Biopiracy Captain Hook Award Nominees

[Guest guest]

This is not new news but is interesting ........Elaine

 

www.twm.co.nz/CptHook.htm

Captain Hook Award Nominees

 

The Coalition Against Biopiracy occasionally grants its " Captain Hook Award "

to the world's foremost practitioners of the art of appropriating knowledge

and biological resources from indigenous peoples and traditional

communities. Some of the past nominees include:

University of Colorado

University of Mississippi

National Institutes of Health (NIH) and New York University

New York Botanical Gardens (Special Endorsement: " The 'Will' Clinton

Procrastination Trophy " )

Sally Fox (Special Endorsement: " The In Your Face Certificate. " )

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals (Special Endorsement: " The Walker Certificate. " )

Shaman Pharmaceuticals (Special Endorsement: " The Forked Tongue Platter. " )

University of Toledo (Special Endorsement: " Marie Antoinette Napkin Ring. " )

University of Wisconsin (Special Endorsement: " The Ostrich Cup. " )

 

University of Colorado

For appropriating indigenous knowledge and genetic resources by patenting a

traditional variety of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa). Quinoa is a high protein

" pseudocereal " crop from the Andes important for the food security of

millions of Andean indigenous people. The University of Colorado´s patent

(U.S. # 5,304,718) is on the male sterile plants of the traditional Bolivian

" Apelawa " quinoa variety and the variety's use in creating hybrid seed.

The University is trying to sell rights to its patent for use in the

expanding U.S. and European markets for quinoa. According to Frieda's, a

U.S. food wholesaler that began to sell quinoa in its " Lost Crops " product

line last year, " The Incas thought QUINOA was sacred and called it 'the

mother grain'. QUINOA was the main source of high quality protein and

believed to be the reason why Inca warriors were so powerful...

archeobotanists have sifted through the debris of ancient villages, and 8 or

9 millennia ago in the Lake Titicaca region, Indians started transforming

QUINOA from a wild plant to a cultivated grain crop. "

But quinoa was never " lost " at all. Andean indigenous peoples continue to

develop, utilize, and conserve quinoa while the North uses intellectual

property systems to steal varieties like Apelawa.

Quinoa has a bitter seed coat that is believed to contribute to the plant´s

insect resistance. But researcher in the U.S. are also trying to develop

varieties without the bitter seed coat, giving rise to fears that their new

varieties of quinoa will require expensive pesticides.

 

University of Mississippi

For patenting the use of the Indian medicinal (and food) plant tumeric. In

US patent 5,401,504, two University of Mississippi scientists patented what

Indians have known for ages ­ that if tumeric based formulations are applied

to wounds, they will heal faster. " Another blatent example of biopiracy, "

says Vandana Shiva. Tumeric is known as " haldi " in India where it is one of

many preparations used in the Ayurveda medical system.

Tumeric (Curcuma longa) is the dried root of a plant similar in size and

related to ginger. India is the world's leading producer of tumeric,

although it is also grown commercially in Peru, Haiti and Jamaica.

India's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research has announced that it

will challenge the patent.

 

National Institutes of Health and New York University

For patenting four botanical traditional medicine remedies and their use in

HIV and tumor therapy. NIH is now trying to sell the rights to its patents

so they can be commercialized. NIH and New York University's patents

include:

US patent no. 5,484,889 which claims a protein purified from bitter melon

(Momordica charantia) fruit or seed, and its synthesis in a lab. Bitter

melon fruit has been used in China and southeast Asia for centuries as an

anti-infection and anti-tumor agent, and also as an immunomodulator,

according to New York University (NYU). Sylvia Lee-Huang, a NUY biologist

and the first " inventor " listed on the patent, remarks candidly that bitter

melon is " very widely eaten in the Chinese community for health reasons. "

Even the fruit's anti-HIV properties were widely known before NIH and NYU

patented it: HIV positive patients in the United States eat bitter melon

extract as an anti-HIV therapy. In Los Angeles there's even a " Bitter Melon

Therapy Group. "

Another botanical remedy patented by NIH and NYU is Trichosanthes kirilowii.

According to Lee-Huang it " has been used in China for many, many years...

and is well known for its therapeutic effect in ovarian cancer and

trophoblastic tumor, as well as against viral infection... " In Chinese, its

common name means " the powder from the flower from the Gods. " It may be from

the Gods, but the patent grants NIH and NYU exclusive monopoly on a protein

purified from the plant's root tuber, or its production in a lab.

US patent no. 5,317,009 covers extract from both Dianthus caryophyllus and

Gelonium multiflorum, natural and synthesized. Dianthus caryophyllusis is

commonly known as the carnation. According to Lee-Huang, Indigenous Peoples

in North America have long used the leaves of Dianthus as a treatment for

cuts or infections. Gelonium multiflorum originates in the Himalayan

mountains, where it's known as the " heavenly fruit. "

" So now we don't have to try so hard to go to the Himalayas to get the

seeds, or to China to get the bitter melons, " Lee-Huang told a biotech

industry magazine. " We can use recombinant technology to produce them in our

labs in large amounts. And our recombinant proteins are as active as the

natural protein. "

 

New York Botanical Garden

For pilfering samples of the South's biodiversity from Northern botantical

gardens on behalf of the drug industry. Working as a proxy for Pfizer

Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. National Cancer Institute, NYBG is

presumptuously positioning itself to be a major broker of the South's

biodiversity. NYBG's employees piously point out the " critical importance "

of " intellectual property rights, access rights [and] reciprocity issues " ;

but then conveniently ignores these issues by trying to ferry thousands of

tropical plants from Northern botanical gardens to the pharmaceutical

industry. NYBG's botanical gardens deals mock the Convention on Biological

Diversity by containing nary a whisper about the rights the garden publicly

holds to be so important.

Special Endorsement: " The 'Will' Clinton Procrastination Trophy "

While helping the Fairchild Tropical Garden (Miami, USA) recover from

Hurricane Andrew, NYBG researchers clipped plant samples from Fairchild's

extensive collection and then provided them to the US Cancer Institute. This

" buried treasure " was collected, transferred, and tested without any

material transfer agreement, potentially leading to major headaches (and

ripoffs) if the samples ever prove to be useful to the pharmaceutical

industry. NYBG's " worry about it tomorrow " approach to benefit sharing

merits the special recognition of the " Will " Clinton Trophy for

distinquished procrastination.

 

Sally Fox

For pirating coloured cotton varieties developed and nurtured by indigenous

peoples in the Americas.In the late 1980s, Sally Fox scooped up two Plant

Variety Protection Certificates in the United States for coloured cottons

she freely admits were the genius of " the ancient peoples of the Americas. "

Fox, at that time an entomology student at UC-Riverside in California, came

across coloured cotton strains in Central America. Recognizing the market

potential for naturally coloured jean fabrics, Fox collected additional

strains from South America and set about making them suitable for commercial

spinning. Fox now has contracts with major American manufacturers for her

environmentally friendly, if stolen cottons.

Special Endorsement: " The In Your Face Certificate. "

For acknowleding her appropriation of indigenous knowledge and using this

acknowledgement as a marketing ploy, the Coalition awards Sally Fox the " In

Your Face " award.

 

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals

For Pfizer's insatiable hunger for the genetic resources of the South.

Pfizer is " prospecting " on at least three continents. As one example, in

China Pfizer is relying exclusively on traditional medical practices to

identify potential pharmaceuticals, hoping in the process to appropriate

thousands of years of innovation by the Chinese people.

Special Endorsement: " The William Walker Certificate "

For a proposed deal that aims at nothing short of acquiring exclusive access

to each and every plant in the mountains, rainforests and coastal ecosystems

of Ecuador at a total price less than US $1 million. For this shameful

attempt to corner the plant diversity tended by dozens of distinct peoples

and countless generations, the Coalition bestows on Pfizer a certificate

named after the US mercenary who had himself installed as president of

Nicaragua.

 

Shaman Pharmaceuticals

For brazenly dredging the public domain for " patentable " information about

indigenous peoples' medicinal plants. Not content to merely patent a South

American plant with widely known medicinal properties (Sangre de Drago),

Shaman has embarked upon an intensive study of ethnobotanical leads in

published articles and papers with hopes of " discovering " yet more

" patentable " materials.

Special Endorsement: " The Forked Tongue Platter "

As Shaman has repeatedly promoted the notion that it will contribute to

local development by promoting demand for pharmaceutical ingredients, yet

has recently purchased fermentation technologies from the German

transnational Bayer that would potentially reduce Shaman's own need to

purchase plants from local suppliers. Thus the Coalition bestows upon Shaman

the coveted Forked Tongue Platter.

 

University of Toledo

For blatent theft of generations of research by Ethiopian scientists.

In 1990 Ethiopian scientist Aklilu Lemma was offered an honorary doctoral

degree from the University of Toledo for his development of the Ethiopian

endod plant ( " soapberry " ) as a possible cure for schistosomiasis. While in

Ohio, Lemma demonstrated that the endod plant would also destroy the zebra

mussels which cause US $5 billion damage each year to the Great Lakes. Four

months later, the University of Toledo applied for a patent in its own name.

Ethiopian research on endod began centuries ago when mothers found that

endod protected their children playing in the water. Ethiopian scientists

devoted 19 years to testing endod before Toledo's patent was granted.

Special Endorsement: " Marie Antoinette Napkin Ring "

For offering to license Ethiopians their own technology. Early in 1995, the

president of the University of Toledo advised Ethiopian scientists that they

could buy a license to continue their own research on endod for a generous

US $25,000. For an outstanding contribution to the " let them eat cake "

modality of North-South cooperation, the Coalition grants the University of

Toledo the Marie Antoinette Napkin Ring.

 

University of Wisconsin

For the patenting of a natural sweetener from Gaban.

Stumbling around West Africa researching primate behaviour, Wisconsin

scientist noticed that people in Gaban enjoyed eating berries from the

Pentadiplandra brazzeana, known locally as " J'oublie " or " I forget. " Guided

by " scientific intuition " that " there was something of value there, "

Hellenke returned to Wisconsin, identified the source of the sweetness and

patented it. The University of Wisconsin has expressed confidence that, by

licensing the patent to the private sector, heat stable brazzeana can make

inroads in the US$100 billion a year sweetener market. As for the debt to

the people of Gabon: their contribution has been conveniently forgotten.

Special Endorsement: " The Ostrich Cup "

For the claim made by the head of the technology transfer office that the

natural sweetener found in the berries is an " invention " of the university's

research that " has no connection to Gabon, " theCoalition awards the Ostrich

Cup.

 

To suggest other potential nominees, please contact:

The Coalition Against Biopiracy

c/o The Indigenous Peoples' Biodiversity Network

304-200 Isabella St, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 1V7

Tel: (613) 237 5361; Fax: (613) 237 1547

E-mail: ipbn

 

 

Cultural Survival Canada (CS Canada) is an autonomous, international

indigenous peoples' organization and a registered charity. Our day-to-day

work of research, education, and advocacy on themes of traditional knowledge

and the rights of indigenous peoples depends on the generous donations of

our members and supporters.

Cultural Survival Canada

304-200 Isabella Street

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 1V7

Phone: 613-237-5361 Fax: 613-237-1547

Email: csc

www.cscanada.org/~csc

Site by Craig Benjamin. Updated April 21, 1997.