BIOTECHNOLOGY IN THE SOVIET UNION by Vincent Lucassen | 15 Oct 1990 Seedling - October 1990 With the breaking down of the Iron Curtain and widespread talk of "perestroika" and "glasnost", the political system in the Soviet Union is presently undergoing profound transformations. A search for the cause of fatal mistakes during the production of biotechnologically produced artificial proteins show some indications of what can happen if decisions on science and technology are left to a central bureaucratic apparatus only. However, the new winds blowing in the USSR do not only bring a more open discussion on these matters, but also revive interest of Western biotech companies to tap part of a huge unexploited market. The development of biotechnology in the flux of "perestroika" has its own dynamics. Vincent Lucassen of the Dutch Contact Group on Biotechnology and Society, and member of the GRAIN Board, went to the Soviet Union and reports on his findings. With the breaking down of the Iron Curtain and widespread talk of "perestroika" and "glasnost", the political system in the Soviet Union is presently undergoing profound transformations. A search for the cause of fatal mistakes during the production of biotechnologically produced artificial proteins show some indications of what can happen if decisions on science and technology are left to a central bureaucratic apparatus only. However, the new winds blowing in the USSR do not only bring a more open discussion on these matters, but also revive interest of Western biotech companies to tap part of a huge unexploited market. The development of biotechnology in the flux of "perestroika" has its own dynamics. Vincent Lucassen of the Dutch Contact Group on Biotechnology and Society, and member of the GRAIN Board, went to the Soviet Union and reports on his findings.
EC BREEDERS ' RIGHTS LAW TABLED by GRAIN | 10 Oct 1990 Seedling - October 1990 The Brussels-based European Commission has ended a long journey in putting together a proposed Community Plant Variety Rights (CPVR) law. The initiative is meant to be a response to EC breeders ' long-standing complaints about loopholes in the current Plant Breeders ' Rights (PBR) system. According to the Commission, the new proposal will harmonise the PBR system, so that breeders can get their protection EEC-wide rather then having to apply for it in each single country. However, as with many of the recent EEC proposals, when the Commission talks about "harmonisation", it really means "strengthening". If adopted, this proposed law would dramatically expand the property rights of plant breeders to the extent that the only difference between a plant patent and a plant breeders right might be in the name. The Brussels-based European Commission has ended a long journey in putting together a proposed Community Plant Variety Rights (CPVR) law. The initiative is meant to be a response to EC breeders ' long-standing complaints about loopholes in the current Plant Breeders ' Rights (PBR) system. According to the Commission, the new proposal will harmonise the PBR system, so that breeders can get their protection EEC-wide rather then having to apply for it in each single country. However, as with many of the recent EEC proposals, when the Commission talks about "harmonisation", it really means "strengthening". If adopted, this proposed law would dramatically expand the property rights of plant breeders to the extent that the only difference between a plant patent and a plant breeders right might be in the name.