Michael Blakeney

Application of genomics-assisted breeding for generation of climate resilient crops: progress and prospects

Climate change affects agricultural productivity worldwide. Increased prices of food commodities are the initial indication of drastic edible yield loss, which is expected to increase further due to global warming. This situation has compelled plant scientists to develop climate change-resilient crops, which can withstand broad-spectrum stresses such as drought, heat, cold, salinity, flood, submergence and pests, thus helping to deliver increased productivity. Genomics appears to be a promising tool for deciphering the stress responsiveness of crop species with adaptation traits or in wild relatives toward identifying underlying genes, alleles or quantitative trait loci. Molecular breeding approaches have proven helpful in enhancing the stress adaptation of crop plants, and recent advances in high-throughput sequencing and phenotyping platforms have transformed molecular breeding to genomics-assisted breeding (GAB). In view of this, the present review elaborates the progress and prospects of GAB for improving climate change resilience in crops, which is likely to play an ever increasing role in the effort to ensure global food security.

Intellectual property rights and food security

1. Intellectual Property and Food Security - Policy Issues 2. Intellectual Property and Agriculture 3. International Intellectual Property Landscape 4. Plant Variety Protection and Food Security 5. Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture 6. Traditional Agricultural Knowledge and Farmers Rights 7. Intellectual Property Aspects of GMOs and Food Security 8. Geographical Indications and Food Security 9. Competition Aspects 10. Intellectual Property and Agricultural Research 11. Recommendations.

Patenting of plant varieties and plant breeding methods

This article considers the relationship between patenting and plant variety rights protection, through a detailed analysis of the recent determination by the Extended Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office that methods for breeding broccoli and tomatoes were not patentable. It concludes that the right to patent agricultural innovations is increasingly located within a political context.

A Critical Analysis of the TRIPS Agreement

Intellectual property (IP) has become one of the most influential and controversial issues in today’s knowledge-based society. This challenging book exposes the reader to key issues at the heart of the public debate now taking place in the field of IP. It considers IP at the macro level where it affects many issues. These include: international trade policy, ownership of breakthrough technologies, foreign direct investment, innovation climates, public–private partnerships, competition rules and public health where it is strongly embedded in contemporary business decision making.

Intellectual property, biological diversity, and agricultural research in Australia

This paper examines the impact of national and international intellectual property and biodiversity laws upon the conduct of agricultural research in Australia, by both public and private agricultural research institutes. The paper concludes that implications of these legal developments, for both plant breeding and plant patenting, counsels the establishment of a coordination officer responsible for the legal obligations of agricultural research institutes.

Agricultural Research: Intellectual Property and the CGIAR System

The CGIAR, founded in 1971, is an informal association of public and private donors that supports an international network of sixteen international agricultural research centres (IARCs), each with its own governing body. The major sponsors are the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Bank, the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme and the aid programmes of the EU and a number of individual countries. With a budget of some US

Climate Change and Gene Patents

340 million per annum, the CGIAR oversees the largest agricultural research effort in the developing world.

Genetic resources for food and agriculture.

Climate change is imposing significant stresses upon agriculture at a time when more food is required for an increasing world population. Genetic engineering is mooted as a technological response to these difficulties. The modification of the DNA of major crop groups produces plants which are more resistant to drought, salinity and to pests. The patenting of climate-useful DNA provides an opportunity to protect the investment in the exploitation of this DNA. The international IPR regime based upon the WTO TRIPS Agreement enables the patenting of this DNA across the globe. As a matter of practice, this patenting is confined to a relatively small group of life-sciences companies. This market concentration has important agricultural policy implications, particularly for developing countries. This article analyses these issues, concluding that the impact of patenting upon food security is becoming as significant as the impact of patenting upon access to medicines.

Intellectual Property and Food Labelling: Trademarks and Geographical Indications

B8 1 Overview B8 2 Genetic resources for food and agriculture in climate-smart agriculture B8 3 Climate-smart management of plant genetic resources B8 4 Climate-smart management of animal genetic resources B8 5 Climate-smart management of forest genetic resources B8 6 Climate-smart management of aquatic genetic resources B8 7 Climate-smart management of micro-organisms and invertebrates B8 8 Conclusions B8 Acknowledgements B8 References Acronyms

Climate Change and Intellectual Property: Regulatory Issues

This chapter looks at the international intellectual property regimes for the protection of trademarks and geographical indications (GIs), both of which play a role in food labelling. It is important for those involved in the marketing of food that they have to deal with harmonised trademark and GIs rules, so that they do not require a multiplicity of labels to comply with a multiplicity of rules. As this chapter explains a high level of harmonisation is achieved by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual property Rights (TRIPS). As compliance with TRIPS is an obligation of all WTO members, this chapter focuses on the trademark and GIs provisions of TRIPS, while mentioning the other international instruments which deal with these subjects.