Greg TraxlerAuburn University and International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat (CIMMYT) Although genetically modified varieties (GMVs) have been commercially successful in the United States(US), their future in developing countries (DCs) with smaller markets is uncertain. How likely is it…

William A. Kerr, Jill E. Hobbs, and Revadee YampoinUniversity of Saskatchewan, Canada; University of Saskatchewan, Canada; and Kasetsart University, Thailand The international protection of intellectual property has been a contentious issue between developed and developing countries. Protection of intellectual property rights in…

George TzotzosUnited Nations Industrial Development Organization The diffusion of biotechnology in most countries of the developing world is likely to take the form of embedded technologies (transgenic seed). In some countries with an incipient science and technology capacity diffusion is likely to…

Per Pinstrup-AndersenInternational Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Developing countries and their low-income people could benefit significantly from the development and use of modern biotechnology in agriculture within a proper biosafety regime. However, international agreements on biosafety, biodiversity, and trade, over which poor…

Calestous JumaHarvard University Agricultural biotechnology is the subject of extensive public debates in many countries. This article presents a summary of the results of the International Conference on Biotechnology in the Global Economy held in September 1999 at Harvard University. The article…

C.S. PrakashTuskegee University There are now six billion of us on the planet for the first time in history. Although the six billionth child was symbolically born in Sarajevo according to the United Nations (UN), it was most likely born in an…

Miguel A. Altieri and Peter RossetUniversity of California, Berkeley & Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy Upon reflecting on McGloughlin’s response to our original essay it becomes quite clear that we and she speak from different world views. Where she sees…

George Frisvold, John Sullivan, and Anton RanesesUniversity of Arizona, Economic Research Service & Defense Logistics Agency The distribution of gains of plant breeding and plant genetic resource exchange has been the source of heated North-South debates in meetings of the United Nations…

Mywish Maredia, Frederic Erbisch, Anwar Naseem, Amie Hightower, James Oehmke, Dave Weatherspoon, and Christopher WolfMichigan State University This paper discusses the significance of intellectual property (IP) protection by public research institutes. It argues that such protection can be compatible with the mission…