Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Chile’s twofaced stance on GMOs:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-27/seven-year-drought-ratchets-up-long-running-gmo-debate-in-chile

…researchers led by Ruiz at the Universidad de Talca are working on a new drought-resistant variety of corn. The university will no doubt sell the rights to a big multinational, such as Monsanto or Syngenta AG.

And what’s crazy…is that the company will create a product for farms elsewhere that will grow corn Chile will end up importing. “We’re clearly losing money -- all of the seeds we produce come back to Chile in the form of soy flour or other products that people don’t know they’re eating.”

The country can’t produce enough corn on its own: Imports jumped 79 percent between 2012 and 2015, government data show. The reason is what scientists at the Universidad de Chile have called a mega-drought, which by their reckoning started in 2010.

…A bill that would allow all farmers to sow transgenic seeds for domestic use has been languishing in Congress for 10 years.

See #msg-41324910 for a related story.