Plant genetic resources

[Palefire]

From the Political Compass:

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Can someone please explain this to me? Specifically what "plant genetic" means. I still do not "get" this question.

The ethics questions seems to revolve around the use of copyrights on naturally occuring genetic materials that result in large profits for the holders of these some what questionable copyrights and prevents others from using naturally occuring materials to create low cost life saving drugs. This is a WTO issue. So I would imagine you could find the pros at a pro WTO source and the cons at an anti WTO source. It does seem like a fairly questionable practice to me.

[Palefire]

Yes, the food stuffs part of this is a very important economic issue (to the point of being able to buy food) to small farms and communities that depend upon small farms in certain areas of the world.

[Palefire]

It's not an issue that gets much coverage in this country. It came to my attention a few years ago when I was in Belize and Costa Rica. Some people down there thought it could spell the end of them. I haven't given it the attention I should have, but I feel certian it deserves to be talked about as an ethical issue and where it could lead.

If you have some info you would like to share David, I'd love to hear it.

[Palefire]

I can not find anything that I would consider to be from a uninterested party, and thus I'm not going to post a link. But there is plenty from interested parties - I just don't know what to make of them at this point. The basic concept of being able to copyright something that is naturally occuring seems very wrong to me, so my inclination is side with the folks that agree with that - but I just don't know enough at this point to be overly vocal.