SEED: the Science Magazine for the 21st Century.

SEED: SEEDMAGAZINE.COM

ABOUT SEED MAGAZINE: Science is changing our world. It is behind the transformations—social, economic, artistic, intellectual, and political—that are defining the 21st century. Through this lens, and with the newest tools of media and journalism, we aim to tell the fundamental story of our world today and to provide information and knowledge to help you prepare for the story tomorrow.

NB: This magazine is not about seeds... that is simply the title chosen for an all-encompassing Science magazine (Sophie)

To read an article on GN Seeds for study at SEED magazine:

A BATTLE IS QUIETLY BEING WAGED BETWEEN THE INDUSTRY THAT PRODUCES GENETICALLY MODIFIED SEEDS AND SCIENTISTS TRYING TO INVESTIGATE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF ENGINEERED CROPS. ALTHOUGH COMPANIES HAVE RECENTLY GIVEN GROUND,RESEARCHERS SAY THESE FIRMS ARE STILL LOATH TO ALLOW INDEPENDENT ANALYSES OF THEIR PATENTED — AND PROFITABLE — SEEDS.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bruce Stutz writes on science, nature, and the environment. A former editor-in-chief ofNatural History, he is a contributing editor to OnEarth. He has written for the New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post, Discover and Audubon. He is the author of Natural Lives, Modern Times and Chasing Spring, An American Journey Through a Changing Season.





Credit: The International Rice Research Institute.

In February 2009, frustrated by industry restrictions on independent research into genetically modified crops, two dozen scientists representing public research institutions in 17 corn-producing states told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the companies producing genetically modified (GM) seed “inhibit public scientists from pursuing their mandated role on behalf of the public good” and warned that industry influence had made independent analyses of transgenic crops impossible.

Unprepared for the scientists’ public protest and the press accounts that followed it, the industry, through its American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), met with crop scientists. Late last year, ASTA agreed that, while still restricting research on engineered plant genes, it would allow researchers greater freedom to study the effects of GM food crops on soil, pests, and pesticide use, and to compare their yields and analyze their effects on the environment.

This article was originally published on Yale e360. Our thanks to e360 for their continued support and collaboration.

While many scientists expressed optimism about the agreement, questions remain over whether — and how soon — it will alter what has been a research environment rife with obstructions and suspicion.

Since the first GM crops were planted some 15 years ago, the companies that developed them have claimed broad control over their use. Farmers don’t simply buy a bag of GM seed from Monsanto, Syngenta, or DuPont. Instead, they enter into a “Technology/Stewardship Agreement” with the company that developed it, the fine print of which lays out, among other things, the terms under which the seed can be used, where it can be grown, where it can be sold (many international governments do not allow the sale of GM crops or products made with them), and the brand of herbicides that can be used. This “bag-tag,” as it’s known, also specifically restricts any use of the seed for research.

“SCIENTISTS FOUND THEIR RESEARCH ULTIMATELY SUBJECT TO SEED COMPANY APPROVAL.”

While U.S. farmers quickly adopted GM crops — GM corn now makes up nearly the entire U.S. crop, and GM soybeans are not far behind — scientists found it hard to adapt to the bag-tag paradigm.

“We used to be able to go into any farm store and buy seeds, test them in the field, and publish our results,” said one researcher. With the advent of GM crops, however, even scientists working in public land grant institutions, whose extension services have long provided farmers with independent analyses, found their research ultimately subject to seed company approval.

If a scientist wanted to compare brands of seeds, for instance, or their environmental impact, he or she had to seek permission from each seed company or gene patent holder. Open access to the study’s data and the right to publish that data had to be secured, while, for their part, the companies sought to protect their patents and intellectual property rights. Even if the companies did not object, contract negotiations, made on a case-by-case basis, could be extended and onerous. Making things worse was that with fewer public monies available for farm research, scientists, and their universities, found themselves increasingly dependent on the seed companies for funding.

To read the entire article click here!

Another of the many brilliant articles that grabbed my attention! From June 7, 2010 Pandora's Seed. Guest essay by Spencer Wells.

FROM OBESITY TO CHRONIQUE FATIGUE SYNDROME,JIHADISM TO URBAN ENNUI, THE COSTS OF CIVILIZATION ARE BECOMING EVER MORE APPARENT. SPENCER WELLSEXPLORES ADAPTING TO A WORLD WHERE ACCELERATING CHANGE IS THE NEW STATUS QUO.

About the author

Spencer Wells is an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society and Frank H. T. Rhodes Class of ’56 Professor at Cornell University. He leads the Genographic Project, which is collecting and analyzing hundreds of thousands of DNA samples from people around the world in order to decipher how our ancestors populated the planet. Wells received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and conducted postdoctoral work at Stanford and Oxford. He has written two books, The Journey of Man and Deep Ancestry.

In 2007 I started a Masters in Fine Arts that was let go late that first year due to unexpected illness and relocating interstate. The topic I was pursuing had something of a strong connection to what I gleaned this article was in no small part addressing - to do with enormous change and the velocity of the change we are countering at this time. I was interested in pondering what the implications for a contemporary artist were in responding to this quality of change and the resulting anxieties and problems to be seen in communities all over.
If the early 20th century resulted in groups like the Dadaists voicing their unique vision I wondered what it might mean now to be addressing current local/global agendas and be contributing a reading of ways that resiliance might overcome growing pressures  - and how  employing one's capacities as an artist might be of value.
Perhaps even now I am not clear when I mention this... I was quite clear about the chaos and complexity I was witnessing or personally experiencing as I navigated through the flux of my own life - what eluded me was the precise idea I wished to pursue. Homage to the Seed evolved out of that heightened restlessness to be engaged in questions of now and the future meaningfully. 
There remains that sense that immense questions hang over us and the much needed rhythm of deft navigating is what we are called on to familiarise ourselves with in a way like never before. Complexity meets velocity is a potent combination.
I know many of us have been taught that the getting of a good career/job and our home is the ticket to security. Increasingly the counter arguement of "following our bliss" has rung out to those free enough to pursue it, fool-hardy enough or just plain vocationally driven by inner necessity.
Then along comes a series of factors since 9/11 that seem to mock both ideals... in all seriousness... how precisely do we think we are going to create security for ourselves now and into the future! We've seen the error and vulnerability at the end of the day of those only thinking of themselves.
Seed is a magazine that will prompt a great many timely thoughts... have a look when you can!