The promises of new and emerging biotechnologies receive continuing attention and promotion. Many governments place high hopes in the new technologies to deliver development. Policy papers and public statements refer to modern biotechnology, genomics, proteomics, and increasingly, nanotechnology.

For developing countries and countries with economies in transition, this raises fundamental questions of development priorities, technology choices and availability of financial and human resources.

There is much to learn from the experiences of developed countries. This includes: the growth of the pharmaceutical, agriculture and chemical (seeds and agro-chemicals) industries and their shaping of the investment climate and consumer market; the evolution of intellectual property standards and rules; the experiences of ?biotechnology clusters? in the United States upon which many developing countries are drawing lessons; the commercial interest in microorganisms and their derivatives such as enzymes and other biomolecules.

Mega-Mergers Will Put Three Companies in Control of Global Agriculture

Mega-mergers between agri-corporate giants are poised to put three companies in control of most of the world’s agrochemicals and seeds, threatening the survival of smallholder farmers. […]

Conventional Breeding Outpaces Biotech Efforts to Produce Nutrient-Efficient Crops

Conventional crop-breeding techniques are outpacing high-biotech efforts in a global race to develop crops that grow well in soils depleted of nutrients. […]

New Crop Technologies for Africa Not Scale-Neutral

This paper describes how the corporate shaping of crop technology R&D has significantly shifted the technological trajectory away from smallholders’ needs and interests. […]

Where GM Crops and Foods are in the World

This report describes what, where and how much GM crops are grown in Canada and around the world and where they end up in our food system. […]

News Release: Groups call on Ecover and Method to drop extreme genetic engineering plans

National and international consumer, environmental, women’s health and farming groups call on leading “natural” cleaning and personal care products manufacturer to cancel plans to use oils and other ingredients derived from synthetic biology. […]

Future GE Developments Remain Risky

This report examines future developments in agro-biotechnology and genetic engineering and warns, with supporting evidence, that these technologies are complex, failure-prone and linked to uncertainties and risks. […]

Reports Show Corporate Control Entrenched in Global Food Chain

Two reports illustrate the overwhelming extent of corporate control over food and agriculture and provide evidence to show the inability of this dominant industrial model to feed a world in (climate) crisis. […]

Gene Giants Seek “Philanthrogopoly”

A new report by the ETC Group exposes how six multinational biotechnology companies control agriculture research globally, and what they seek to do to placate anti-trust regulators and soften opposition to GMOs. […]

Seed Giants vs. US farmers

This report documents how the current seed patent regime in the US has led to consolidation and control of global seed supply and how these patents have abetted corporations to sue US farmers for alleged seed patent infringement. […]

Hazardous Harvest: Genetically Modified Crops in South Africa: 2008-2012

This report provides a comprehensive update of the situation with GMOs in South Africa […]