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Civil society defends rights of indigenous peoples and small-scale farmers against big-pharma and biotech

CANCUN, MEXICO —This week, international conservation and environmental leaders will meet to call on governments to protect biodiversity, indigenous people and local communities’ rights from controversial new biotechnologies. Regulatory advocates will weigh in on the controversial uses of a genetic extinction technology called gene drives and the handling of digital gene sequences.

What: Thousands of government and civil society representatives convene for the 2016 UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) Conference of the Parties.

Where: Cancun, Mexico

When: December 5-17, 2016. Civil society groups will be hosting side events to caution for stronger regulations of synthetic biology starting December 5.

Quotes from regulatory advocates and stakeholders:

“At the top of the agenda for this year’s biodiversity convention is how to govern the outpouring of new biotechnologies in a way that protects nature and people’s livelihoods,” said Jim Thomas, program director at ETC Group. “A coalition of civil society groups is calling especially for a moratorium on the use of gene drives and for rules that protect against the digital theft of genetic resources from communities.”

“To alter wild populations or bring whole species to extinction has major ethical, social and environmental implications. Not only do we lack the knowledge and understanding to carry out such complex risk assessments, we don’t even know what questions to ask,” said Dr. Steinbrecher, biologist and molecular geneticist representing the Federation of German Scientists. “We need to pause and allow the scientific community, local communities and society at large to debate and reflect, rather than simply allowing technology to lead us down this path. In the meantime, a moratorium is essential.”

“Unprincipled distribution and unapproved use of digital DNA threatens 25 years of international work on access and benefit sharing rules,” said Ed Hammond, research associate, Third World Network. “The Cancun COP must step in and address the breach that is opening between digital and physical access to biodiversity.”

Dana Perls, senior campaigner, Friends of the Earth U.S. said: “Speculative companies are threatening biodiversity with dangerous technologies and stealing genetic resources that indigenous peoples and small-scale farmers have historically stewarded for the good of humankind. We must not let companies take over nature for the sake of profit and market control.”

Third World Network

Yesterday’s biopirate hid seeds in her boots, but

tomorrow’s may steal genetic sequence data. Faster and

cheaper gene sequencing is creating massive new digital

databases of biodiversity. Some of them contain the DNA

sequences of thousands, even tens of thousands, of

varieties of crops, crop wild relatives, medicinal plants, and

microbes. Almost none of these databases currently apply

access and benefit sharing (ABS) rules of the CBD and

Nagoya Procotol.

The technology for this “digital DNA” to be downloaded

and then introduced into new organisms is becoming a

reality, meaning that biodiversity can be moved across the

planet electronically and possibly without the material

transfer agreement (MTA) that many countries use to

implement ABS rules.

For example, European scientists might use an internet

database to obtain gene sequences from South American

tomatoes and tomato wild relatives. If they identify

valuable diversity, instead of going to South America to

negotiate an ABS agreement, they might instead use

CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to reproduce that diversity in

European tomatoes - without an agreement with the

country of origin.

Common Call for a Global Moratorium on Genetically-engineered Gene Drives

In view of the significant ecological, cultural and societal threats posed by genetically-engineered gene drives, including threats to biodiversity, national sovereignty, peace and food security, we the undersigned call upon governments at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, in accordance with the precautionary principle, to put in place a moratorium on 1) any further technical development and experimental application of gene drives, and 2) environmental release of genetically-engineered gene drives.

CANCUN, MEXICO – This week, international conservation and environmental leaders are calling on governments at the 2016 UN Convention on Biodiversity to establish a moratorium on the controversial genetic extinction technology called gene drives.

More resources on gene drives and campaigns at CBD COP13

Gene drives, developed through new gene-editing techniques- are designed to force a particular genetically engineered trait to spread through an entire wild population – potentially changing entire species or even causing deliberate extinctions. The statement urges governments to put in place an urgent, global moratorium on the development and release of the new technology, which poses serious and potentially irreversible threats to biodiversity, as well as national sovereignty, peace and food security.

Over 160 civil society organisations from six continents have joined the call. Among them were environmental organizations including Friends of the Earth International; International Union of Food Workers representing over 10 million workers in 127 countries ; organizations representing millions of small-scale famers around the world, such as the La Via Campesina International and the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements; the international indigenous peoples’ organization Tebtebba; scientist coalitions including European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility and Unión de Científicos Comprometidos con la Sociedad (Mexico); as well as ETC Group and Third World Network.

“We lack the knowledge and understanding to release gene drives into the environment – we don’t even know what questions to ask. To deliberately drive a species to extinction has major ethical, social and environmental implications,” says Dr. Steinbrecher, representing the Federation of German Scientists. “It is essential that we pause, to allow the scientific community, local communities and society at large to debate and reflect. We can’t allow ourselves to be led by a novel technique. In the meantime, a moratorium is essential.”

“These genetic extinction technologies are false solutions to our conservation challenges,” said Dana Perls of Friends of the Earth. “We want to support truly sustainable and community driven conservation efforts. Gene drives could be co-opted by agribusiness and military interests. We need a moratorium on irreversible and irresponsible technologies such as gene drives.”

“Gene drives will be one of the fiercest debates at CBD this year,” says Jim Thomas of ETC Group. “Gene drives are advancing far too quickly in the real world, and so far are unregulated. There are already hundreds of millions of dollars pouring into gene drive development, and even reckless proposals to release gene drives within next four years.”

“The CBD is the premier international treaty for protecting biodiversity and life on earth from new threats,” said Lim Li Ching of Third World Network. “It is within the mandate of the CBD to adopt this moratorium, and countries that are party to this agreement must act now to avoid serious or irreversible harm.”

The uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered organisms is already a reality

4 December 2016 / The German Minister for the Environment, Barbara Hendricks, has taken a clear stand against any release of genetically engineered organisms inheriting a 'gene drive'. In a statement she says, “I share your concern that 'gene drives' can severely impact ecosystems, and believe that special precautions are needed in research and risk assessment. From an environmental point of view, I do not think that a release of organisms inheriting a 'gene drive' can be justified with our current level of knowledge.” Her letter was sent to civil society organisations (CSOs) in Germany ahead of the 13 Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which will take place from 4 - 17 December in Mexico.

Besides genetic information, so-called ’gene-drives’ also change the frequency of heredity. Gene drives are created by using new methods of genetic engineering, known as CRISPR-Cas. Once inserted into an organism, the newly introduced DNA will be transferred homozygously in each generation, and therefore spread throughout populations much faster than would be the case with natural heredity. Currently, there are ongoing discussions about whether this method should be applied in the genetic engineering of natural populations, such as insects, weeds and wild animals. Once released, these organisms can cause irreversible damage in ecological systems – and there are no known measures that can be taken to withdraw them from the environment.

Gene drives are a new biotechnology development that allow humans the unprecedented capability to profoundly alter or even drive to extinction entire populations or whole species of organisms. Are they a valued tool for conservation? Or are they more likely to fail, make matters worse, and fall into the hands of those who seek profit-making at all cost? Or will they be used for military applications?

This page serves as a platform to gather and share critical perspective on gene drives. Below you will find recent resources and further information on the subject, including videos, briefings and campaigning tools. This page will grow as resistance to gene drive technologies does, so come back regularly! You can also find contact information below for the Civil Society Working Group on Gene Drives, should you wish to get in touch or find out more.

Five key decisions for COP 13 & COP-MOP 8

December 2016

Synthetic biology describes the next generation of biotechnologies that attempt to engineer, re-design, re-edit and synthesize biological systems, including at the genetic level. Synthetic biology goes far beyond the first generation of ‘transgenic’ engineered organisms. Predicted to be almost a 40 billion dollar (US) market by 2020, industrial activity in synthetic biology is rapidly exploding as new genome editing tools and cheaper synthesis of DNA make it easier and faster to genetically re-design or alter biological organisms.

Synthetic biology threatens to undermine all three objectives of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) if Parties fail to act on the following 5 key issues:

1. Operational Definition. It’s time for the CBD to adopt an operational definition of synthetic biology.

2. Precaution: Gene drives. Gene drives pose wide ecological and societal threats and should be placed under a moratorium.

3. Biopiracy: Digital Sequences. Synthetic biology allows for digital theft and use of DNA sequences – this must be addressed by both the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol.

4. Socio-economic Impacts: Sustainable Use. The CBD needs a process to address impacts of synthetic biology on sustainable use of biodiversity.

5. Cartagena Protocol: Risk Assessment. Parties to the COP-MOP 8 need to clearly move forward with elaborating risk assessment guidance on synthetic biology.

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

“Genetic engineering is passé. Today, scientists aren’t just mapping genomes and manipulating genes, they’re building life from scratch - and they're doing it in the absence of societal debate and regulatory oversight."

- Pat Mooney, Executive Director of ETC Group, whose mission is to access the consequences and impacts of new technologies.

Our two guests are: Claire Hope Cummings, author of Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds. Her concerns are how gene drives are proposed for use in conservation (Island Conservation’s daughterless mouse) and the whole idea of the eradication of the female (daughterless anything) and anything people need to know about the regulatory issues - most notably that there is no regulatory response to these new developments and the response to GMOs was terribly inadequate and facilitated widespread contamination, among other risks which are still a problem.

Jim Thomas is a Research Programme Manager and Writer at ETC Group, located in Ottawa, Canada. His background is in communications, writing on emerging technologies and international campaigning. For the seven years previous to joining ETC Group Jim was a researcher and campaigner on Genetic Engineering and food issues for Greenpeace International - working in Europe, North America, Australia/New Zealand and South East Asia. He has extensive experience on issues around transgenic crops and nanotechnologies has written articles, chapters and technical reports in the media and online. Trained as a historian to look back at the history of technology, Jim is now busy communicating the future of technology.

Most important topics: Complaint against EU authorisation for 'toxic soybeans' / Genetically engineered maize can give rise to superweeds / International research project / Golden Rice: Nobel Prize laureates caught up in sales campaign for biotech company?

Overview of Topics

Current Issues and Activities

- Testbiotech complaint against the EU authorisation for 'toxic soybeans'

- Genetically engineered maize can give rise to superweeds

- Conflicts of interest in EU risk research: EU Ombudsman calls for more transparency

- New Testbiotech report on genetic engineering of animals and animal experiments

- Testbiotech comment on maize Bt11 × 59122 × MIR604 × 1507 × GA21

- Testbiotech comment on soybean 305423 x 40-3-2

Scientific news

- Independent scientists set up international research project

- EFSA caught up in massive conflicts of interest whilst at the same time dismissing scientific findings

Four GE crops are widely grown in Canada:

1. canola

2. corn

3. soy

4. sugar beet (white sugar beet for sugar processing)

These four crops end up as processed food ingredients and are also widely used for animal feed. They are genetically engineered to be insect resistant and/or herbicide tolerant. For details on where these GM crops are planted, and how much, see CBAN's report "Where in the world are GM crops and foods?"

Canada could also be importing a small amount of:

5. GE papaya (from Hawaii)

6. GE squash - some varieties of yellow crookneck squash (from the US)

7. GE cottonseed oil

8. milk products from the US made with the use of recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone

Some other genetically engineered crops have been approved and could be sold in stores soon:

9. The GM non-browning apple was approved in 2015 in the US and Canada but is not on the market in Canada in 2016.

10. There is a GM potato that was approved in March 2016 but none were planted in Canada in 2016.

11. Canada has also approved a GM Atlantic salmon. It is not yet in production anywhere in the world.

12. In Canada, some GM alfalfa was sold in 2016 for the first time. This crop is used for animal feed.