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posted by janrinok on Wednesday December 28 2016, @11:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the getting-your-5-a-day dept.

Frank Morton has been breeding lettuce since the 1980s. His company offers 114 varieties, among them Outredgeous, which last year became the first plant that NASA astronauts grew and ate in space.

For nearly 20 years, Morton's work was limited only by his imagination and by how many different kinds of lettuce he could get his hands on. But in the early 2000s, he started noticing more and more lettuces were patented, meaning he would not be able to use them for breeding. The patents weren't just for different types of lettuce, but specific traits such as resistance to a disease, a particular shade of red or green, or curliness of the leaf.

Such patents have increased in the years since, and are encroaching on a growing range of crops, from corn to carrots — a trend that has plant breeders, environmentalists and food security experts concerned about the future of the food production.

https://ensia.com/features/open-source-seeds/


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  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday December 29 2016, @12:12PM

    by Bot (3902) on Thursday December 29 2016, @12:12PM (#447051) Journal

    But DNA is code. With junk, just like computer code. With a non strictly linear execution model, just like code under windows or systemd.
    Patented DNA is proprietary code.
    Restrictions over distribution and reuse is similar to what copies of programs are subjected too.

    The only problem is calling that open source because it is too broad. Free genetic material would be better.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 29 2016, @06:40PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 29 2016, @06:40PM (#447157)

    calling that open source [...] is too broad. Free genetic material would be better

    Right. (I would have said "gratis".)

    "Is able to be reverse-engineered" is nowhere near "Open Source". [google.com]
    We've been over this exact topic previously. [soylentnews.org]
    Multiple times. [soylentnews.org]

    Clearly, there are several folks here who have embraced the dishonest practice of Openwashing. [google.com]

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]