Category: Economic Impacts
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Synthetic Biology Shopper’s Guide: updated and in stores now!
SynBioWatch, in collaboration with Friends of the Earth US and the Independent Natural Food and Retailers Association (INFRA), is launching an updated version of our Synthetic Biology Shopper’s Guide. The guide has been printed and is being distributed in over 350 locations of INFRA members across the USA in October. Download the Shopper’s Guide in […]
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Artificial Life Threatens Nature and Society
This was originally posted to All Africa. by Glenn Ashton Synthetic food has long been the subject of speculative fiction, from Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” where poor quality artificial food spawned dissent, to Kurt Vonnegut’s “Breakfast of Champions” where food was manufactured from coal and petroleum because fossil fuels had trashed global ecosystems. Today […]
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Synthetic Biology Could Open a Whole New Can of Worms
This article originally appeared at IPS News. by Desmond Brown PYEONGCHANG, Republic of Korea, Oct 7 2014 (IPS) – Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is the world’s leading producer of vetiver. In the southwest of the country, vetiver production is hard to ignore. Driving into Les Cayes, the largest town in the south, […]
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Your Vanilla Ice Cream Is About to Get Weirder
This article originally appeared in Mother Jones. By Tom Philpott Wed Jun. 4, 2014 Synthetic biology—or “synbio” for short—is the stuff of science fiction brought to life. Whereas standard-issue biotechnology involves inserting a gene from one organism into another, synbio entails stuff like inserting computer-generated DNA sequences into living cells: i.e, creating new organisms altogether. […]
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Video: GMOs 2.0: Synthetic Biology, Farmers and Food
Goldman Theater, Brower Center, Berkeley Synthetic biology, “extreme genetic engineering,” is about to radically change our food system. What is “synbio” and what are the real costs to agriculture, the environment, and the livelihoods of farmers around the world? SPEAKERS: Neth Daño, ETC Group, Philippines Alejandrino García Castaño, Vanilla Farmer, Mexico John Roulac, Nutiva, Richmond, […]
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What’s That Smell? Exotic Scents Made From Re-engineered Yeast – By Andrew Pollack
Reposted from the New York Times October 20, 2013 EMERYVILLE, Calif. — Vanilla, saffron, patchouli. For centuries, spices and flavorings like these have come from exotic plants growing in remote places like the jungles of Mexico or the terraced hillsides of Madagascar. Some were highly prized along ancient trading routes like the Silk Road. Now […]
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Synthetic biology: An emperor with no clothes? – By Allison Domicone
Reposted from Policy Matters Journal On September 11, I had the great pleasure of attending a public conversation with one of my heroes, Dr. Vandana Shiva, at the David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley. Shiva is a highly respected Indian physicist and activist who has for decades been speaking truth to power with an eloquence […]
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Video: Corporate Biotech Green vs. Ecological Green – Vandana Shiva & Gopal Dayaneni
Vandana Shiva, PhD in conversation with Gopal Dayaneni, of Movement Generation: Justice and Ecology Project. World renowned environmental philosopher and activist Vandana Shiva illuminates the corporate assault on biological and cultural diversity and helps us connect the dots: What is the East Bay “Green Corridor,” who is creating it, and what does it mean for […]
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Vandana Shiva – September 11, 7:30 pm PST
Seeding Labs, Ceding Seeds: Regional And Global Impacts Of The Biotech Bonanza Brower Center’s Goldman Theater – 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley View the video of the event! Vandana Shiva, PhD in conversation with Gopal Dayaneni, of Movement Generation: Justice and Ecology Project. World renowned environmental philosopher and activist Vandana Shiva illuminates the corporate assault on […]
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Green Greed – Seeds of Injustice, By Vandana Shiva
Originally published on Asian Age and Navdanya.org “The “green economy” agenda… could well become the blueprint for the biggest resource grab in history, with corporations appropriating the planet’s green wealth and biodiversity.” “Big oil, big pharma, big food, big seed companies are joining hands to appropriate biodiversity and biomass — the living carbon, thereby extending […]