* Out of Brazil: A Peanut Worth Billions (to the US)
A short report of how a peanut collected at a market in Porto Alegre, Brazil, came to earn billions for US farmers. The case illustrates how, in the absence of effective access and benefit sharing laws, genetic acquisition can make big profits for some but little or nothing for those from whom the original germplasm was taken.
To download a pdf copy of the report, click here.
* Out of Africa: Mysteries of Access and Benefit Sharing
a report by researcher/writer Jay McGown
with an introduction by Beth Burrows, director of the Edmonds Institute
50 pages of research on biopiracy in Africa. containing dozens of cases and suggesting a continent-wide free-for all of biodiversity and traditional knowledge acquisition, apparently without the prior informed consent of those whose biodiversity (or traditional knowledge) has been taken.
To download a pdf copy of the report, click here.
* The Catch: Perspectives in Benefit Sharing
a book edited and with a preface by Beth Burrows (director of the Edmonds Institute)
and with chapters by:Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher (Ethiopian scientist and diplomat, winner of the Right Livelihood Award and one of the architects of the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol)
Ossama M. El-Tayeb (Egyptian scientist and diplomat, Professor Emeritus of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Microbial Biotechnology Center at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University)
Michael Frein (senior policy advisor on trade and WTO issues at Evangelischer Entwicklungsdient, EED, Bonn, Germany)
Debra Harry (Northern Paiute from Pyramid Lake in Nevada and Executive Director of the Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism)
Le'a Malia Kanehe (Kanaka Maoli from Honolulu, Hawai'i and indigenous rights attorney with the Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism)
Harmut Meyer (scientist and coordinator of the Working Group on Biodversity of the NGO Forum on Environment and Development, Braunschweig, Germany)
Elpidio V. Peria (legal advisor to the Philippine delegation to the Convention on Biological Diversity and NGO advocacy officer)
Silvia Ribeiro (researcher and program manager with ETC Group, currently based in Mexico)
Devinder Sharma (New Delhi based food and trade policy analyst and journalist)
Vandana Shiva (author/scientist/activist director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology in New Delhi and Director of Navdanya in Dehra Dun, India)
In a 280-page paperback debuted at the first Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) negotiation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the authors examine the feasibility of benefit sharing as an antidote to biopiracy and come to different conclusions. Some consider an ABS regime impossible and even undesirable; others remain hopeful it can be achieved. Some find benefit sharing part of an old paradigm steeped in injustice and destruction; others see it as our last opportunity for a better future.
To download a pdf copy of the book, click here.
* Russian and Slovenian Translations of the Manual for Assessing Ecological and Human Health Effects of Genetically Engineered Organisms
The English version of the Manual - authored by scientists from a wide range of disciplines, including Mark Wheelis (University of California-Davis), Andrew Spielman (Harvard University), Philip Regal (University of Minnesota), Deborah Letourneau (University of California-Santa Cruz), Terrie Klinger (Friday Harbor Labs), Anne R. Kapuscinski (University of Minnesota), Conrad Istock (formerly of the University of Arizona), Elaine Ingham (Oregon State University), Norman Ellstrand (University of California-Riverside), Pushpa M. Bhargava (Anveshna Consultancy, India), and Sharon Akabas (Columbia University) - has been available for downloading from this site for some time.
The Manual is also available online in other languages.
Thanks to the work of people at the Socio-Ecological Union in Russia and others, a Russian translation is available in print and online at our site. To download the Russian version, click here.
A Slovenian translation, done under the auspices of the Slovenian Government, is available on the website of the Slovenian Ministry for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy at:
http://www.sigov.si/mop/podrocja/uradzaokolje_sektorbiotehnologijo/ projekti.htm
* Videotape Lectures to accompany the Manual for Assessing Ecological and Human Health Effects of Genetically Engineered Organisms and demonstrate use of the Manual's flowcharts - available in both PAL and NTSC formats
In separate video lectures, two of the Manual's authors introduce the Manual and walk through an example of using its flowcharts to assess potential ecological effects of particular genetically engineered organisms.
Dr. Anne Kapuscinski, of the University of Minnesota Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology and the Institute for Social, Economic and Ecological Sustainability, considers hypothetical large scale release of a genetically modified salmon and Dr. Norman Ellstrand, of the University of California-Riverside Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, considers a hypothetical maize genetically modified to express an industrial chemical.
Single sets of the videotapes are made available at no cost to international biosafety training organizations and to biosafety focal points, trainers, and researchers in G-77 countries and in Central and Eastern Europe. All others are asked to reimburse the costs of tape duplication, handling, and mailing.
To make enquiries or request a set of tapes, please contact:
The Edmonds Institute
20319-92nd Avenue West
Edmonds, Washington 98020 USA
email: beb@igc.orgIf ordering tapes, please indicate whether NTSC or PAL format.
Note: Because of the expense in producing and distributing these materials, no more than two requests for complimentary copies can be honored from any one country. All complimentary copies will be made available with the understanding that complimentary copies are to be shared.
* SPECIAL COMPLIMENTARY COPIES of Genetically Engineered Organisms: Assessing Environmental and Human Health Effects -
a compendium of biosafety research edited by Deborah K. Letourneau and Beth Elpern Burrows, published by CRC Press - including peer-reviewed chapters by scientists who have done cutting edge research in botany, entomology, plant pathology, and other agricultural and environmental sciences. The book elaborates critical research on pollen movement, spread of transgenes in natural communities, fitness effects, resistance development, etc. Authors include Drs. Joy Bergelson, David Andow, Terrie Klinger, Alison Power, John Losey, Andrew Spielman, William Muir, Anne Kapuscinski, Gunther Stotsky, and others.
"The overall list of chapter authors appears to be outstanding...I feel that the chapters do an excellent job in illustrating the research that is needed to examine the impacts of genetically engineered organisms in a sound manner."
- David Pimentel, Cornell
Complimentary copies of this 456 page book from one of the world's major scientific presses are available only to biosafety focal points, regulators, and researchers in the Global South and in Central and Eastern Europe. Others can avail themselves of the book by purchasing it from CRC Press. Special grants and donations of royalties make complimentary copies available on a limited basis.To make enquiries about complimentary copies, contact:
The Edmonds Institute
20319-92nd Avenue West
Edmonds, Washington 98020 USA
email: beb@igc.org
The Edmonds Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization under the rules of the Internal Revenue Service and is registered as a charitable organization with the State of Washington. Donations to the Institute, above the cost of materials ordered, are tax deductible, well-used and greatly appreciated.
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