Faith in a Seed? The Social and Environmental Critique or Plant and Seed Patents, 1906 � Present

Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Johnson, Robert

Keywords

Seeds, Intellectual Property Rights, Patents, GMOs, Transgenic Plants

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies

Abstract

This thesis explores the historical process through which new crop varieties came to be considered not just plants but also technological artifacts. By tracing the development of plant patents in the United States through Congress and the courts from 1906-2001, I show how plant patents and the growth of the seed industry have mutually reinforced and strengthened each other. As plant patents grew stronger, they were subject to greater criticism of their social and environmental consequences, which include the loss of farmers� right to save seed, facilitation of corporate consolidation in the seed industry, acceleration of crop genetic diversity loss, and an enabling role in spread of the agricultural biotechnology industry. Today, the international "Farmers� Rights" movement seeks to decrease plant intellectual property rights and promote alternative regimes that protect traditional agricultural systems and the right to save and replant seed.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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