Where do GMOs fit into public research? The case of CIAT

Abstract

Abstract The forms, applications and impacts that biotechnology has requires a nuanced analysis that takes into account both (1) how the technology itself is shaped by society, as well as (2) how the technology shapes society. How biotechnology affects the global food regime depends partially upon the context in which it is created. I examine this issue by describing the role of a single biotechnology, genetic modification, within an international agricultural research centre, CIAT, which is based in Colombia. This paper explores how neoliberal emphasis on private market involvement, streamlined regulatory regimes and strengthened intellectual property rights challenge public researchers attempting to use genetic modification for plant improvement to create ‘public’ goods in a private industry dominated system.

Résumé Les formes, les applications et les effets de la biotechnologie nécessitent une analyse nuancée qui prend en compte la façon dont la technologie est influencée par la société ainsi bien que la façon dont la société influence la technologie. De plus, comment la biotechnologie affecte le régime agroalimentaire global dépend partiellement du contexte dans lequel elle est créée. L'auteur examine cette problématique en décrivant le rôle d'une forme de biotechnologie – la modification génétique – au sein d'un centre de recherche international sur l'agriculture, CIAT, situé en Colombie. Ce travail explore les manières dont l'emphase néoliberale sur la participation du marché privé, la rationalisation des régimes réglementaires et le renforcement des droits sur la propriété intellectuelle contestent les chercheurs publics et leurs efforts à améliorer les cultures afin de créer les biens publics dans une industrie dominée par le secteur privé.

Keywords:

• agricultural biotechnology
• food regime
• neoliberal changes
• GMOs
• public research

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (doctoral and postdoctoral fellowship); the Canadian Institute of Health Research (Institute of Genetics Short Term Research Visit Grant: Science, Controversy, and Genetically Modified Plants: Participant Observation of the Creation of New Genetic Knowledge and Edible Vaccines, Principal Investigator: Christina Holmes); and the International Development Research Centre (Canadian Window on Development Award: Seeds, scientists, and sustenance: engineering value-added crops in Colombia and Canada [No. 102667-99906075-010]). The author wishes to thank the anonymous reviewers, Gerardo Otero, Fiona McDonald, Mavis Jones and Russell Wyeth for their comments on this paper, as well as individuals who commented on previous versions of this work at the 2011 Latin American Studies Association Congress.

Notes

I use the terms genetic modification (GM) interchangeably with genetic engineering to mean the process of adding a gene or genes from another species to an organism. The products of this process I refer to as genetically modified plants or organisms (GMOs) or transgenics. I use the term ‘biotechnology’ here to refer to a wider category of technologies that followed from the discovery of the molecular nature of DNA, including methods such as molecular markers and tissue culture, as well as genetic modification or engineering.