[E-rundbrief] Info 504 - Genetic Engineering and Geoengineering
Matthias Reichl
info at begegnungszentrum.at
Sa Feb 3 17:04:06 CET 2007
E-Rundbrief - Info 504 ETC Group (Canada):
Extreme Genetic Engineering: ETC Group Releases
Report on Synthetic Biology Findings to be
presented at World Social Forum in Nairobi -
20-25 January 2007; ETC Group (Canada): Gambling
with Gaia - On the Eve of the Release of UN
Climate Change Report ETC Group Warns that US
Government's Push for Geoengineering is Unacceptable
Bad Ischl, 3.2.2007
Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
www.begegnungszentrum.at
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Extreme Genetic Engineering:
ETC Group Releases Report on Synthetic Biology
Findings to be presented at World Social Forum in Nairobi - 20-25 January 2007.
ETC Group
January 16, 2007
www.etcgroup.org
A new report by the ETC Group concludes that the
social, environmental and bio-weapons threats of
synthetic biology surpass the possible dangers
and abuses of biotech. The full text of the 70-
page report, Extreme Genetic Engineering: An
Introduction to Synthetic Biology, is available
for downloading free-of-charge on the ETC Group website:
http://www.etcgroup.org/upload/publication/602/01/synbioreportweb.pdf
"Genetic engineering is passe," said Pat Mooney,
Executive Director of ETC Group. "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," said Mooney.
Synbio - dubbed "genetic engineering on steroids"
- is inspired by the convergence of nano-scale
biology, computing and engineering. Using a
laptop computer, published gene sequence
information and mail- order synthetic DNA, just
about anyone has the potential to construct genes
or entire genomes from scratch (including those
of lethal pathogens). Scientists predict that
within 2-5 years it will be possible to
synthesise any virus; the first de novo bacterium
will likely make its debut in 2007; in 5-10 years
simple bacterial genomes will be synthesised
routinely and it will become no big deal to
cobble together a designer genome, insert it into
an empty bacterial cell and - voila - give birth
to a living, self-replicating organism. Other
synthetic biologists hope to reconfigure the
genetic pathways of existing organisms to perform
new functions - such as manufacturing high-value drugs or chemicals.
A clutch of entrepreneurial scientists, including
the gene maverick J. Craig Venter, is setting up
synthetic biology companies backed by government
funding and venture capital. They aim to
commercialise new biological parts, devices and
systems that don't exist in the natural world -
some of which are designed for environmental
release. Advocates insist that synthetic biology
is the key to cheap biofuels, a cure for malaria,
and climate change remediation - media-friendly
goals that aim to mollify public concerns about a
dangerous and controversial technology.
Ultimately synthetic biology means cheaper and
widely accessible tools to build bioweapons,
virulent pathogens and artificial organisms that
could pose grave threats to people and the
planet. The danger is not just bio-terror, but "bio-error," warns ETC Group.
Despite calls for open source biology, corporate
and academic scientists are winning exclusive
monopoly patents on the products and processes of
synthetic genetics. Like biotech, the power to
make synthetic life could be concentrated in the
hands of major multinational firms. As gene
synthesis becomes cheaper and faster, it will
become easier to synthesise a microbe than to
find it in nature or retrieve it from a gene
bank. Biological samples, sequenced and stored in
digital form, will move instantaneously across
the globe and be resurrected in corporate labs
thousands of miles away - a practice that could
erode future support for genetic conservation and
create new challenges for international negotiations on biodiversity.
"Last year, 38 civil society organizations
rejected proposals for self-regulation of
synthetic biology put forth by a small group of
synthetic biologists," said Kathy Jo Wetter of
ETC Group. "Widespread debate on the social,
economic and ethical implications of synbio must
come first - and it must not be limited to
biosecurity and biosafety issues," said Wetter.
The tools for synthesising genes and genomes are
widely accessible and advancing at break-neck
pace. ETC Group's new report concludes that it is
not enough to regulate synthetic biology on the
national level. Decisions must be considered in a
global context, with broad participation from
civil society and social movements. In keeping
with the Precautionary Principle, ETC Group
asserts that - at a minimum - there must be an
immediate ban on environmental release of de novo
synthetic organisms until wide societal debate
and strong governance are in place.
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ETC Group News Release February 1, 2007 www.etcgroup.org
Gambling with Gaia
On the Eve of the Release of UN Climate Change
Report ETC Group Warns that US Government's Push
for Geoengineering is Unacceptable
On the day before the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
sounds its loudest alarm yet, ETC Group warns
that some OECD states, led by the United States,
are betting on a pie- in-the-sky techno-fix to
address climate change. "Geoengineering" refers
to the intentional, large-scale manipulation of
the environment to bring about environmental
change. With no hope for Kyoto, little political
will to ask industry or voters to change
lifestyles and a growing recognition that carbon
trading is a farce, some governments are
concluding that massive earth restructuring is
the only way out. The Guardian reported earlier
this week that the US government is lobbying the
IPCC to promote geoengineering activities, such
as deliberately polluting the stratosphere to
deflect sunlight and lower temperatures. (1)
The full text of ETC Group's report is available here:
<http://
www.etcgroup.org/upload/publication/606/01/geoengineeringcomfeb0107.pdf>
"We already know that humans can geoengineer
planet earth - that's why we have climate
change," said Pat Mooney, Executive Director of
ETC Group. "The notion that we can successfully
correct our unintentional destructiveness with
intentional geoengineering is ludicrous. For the
governments who caused the problem to experiment
together on geoengineering solutions - outside
the UN and without the participation of the South
who bear the brunt of global warming and would
likely bear the risks of geoengineering - is a
grave miscalculation," said Mooney.
According to ETC Group's 18-page report,
"Gambling with Gaia," at least 9 national
governments and the European Union have supported
experiments to spread iron filings on the ocean
surface to nurture plankton and sequester carbon
dioxide. At least a dozen additional countries
are involved in stratospheric weather/climate
modification. Commercial carbon traders are
engaging in ocean fertilization as well. The
scientific debate and the government/commercial
experimentation are taking place in the absence of public participation.
ETC Group concludes that geoengineering is the
wrong response to climate change. Any
experimentation to alter the structure of the
oceans or the stratosphere should not proceed
without thorough and informed public debate on
its consequences, and UN authorization.
Geoengineering must not be undertaken
unilaterally by any nation. The United Nations
must reaffirm (and, if necessary, expand) the
Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD)
recognizing that any unilateral modification of
weather or climate is a threat to neighboring
countries and, very likely, the entire international community.
Other UN agencies dealing with the impact of
climate change must also address this issue. This
includes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and
the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
"Most importantly, the IPCC should revisit the
concept and practice of carbon trading and
replace this market-based, so-called 'solution'
with direct measurable standards for CO2 emission
reduction at source," said Silvia Ribeiro of ETC
Group. "Instead of coming up with new
technological fixes that will cause potentially
catastrophic problems, particularly for the
South, OECD states must take seriously efforts to
reduce their consumption of fossil fuels and to
curtail other wasteful practices that contribute
to global warming," added Ribeiro.
The issue of geoengineering and its far-reaching
social, environmental, ethical and political
implications should be on the agenda of the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change, 3-14
December 2007 in Bali, and the World
Meteorological Organization's 15th Congress in May 2007.
ETC contact information:
Pat Mooney: etc at etcgroup.org +1 613 241-2267
Hope Shand or Kathy Jo Wetter hope at etcgroup.org
+1 919 960-5767 kjo at etcgroup.org +1 919 960-5223
Silvia Ribeiro silvia at etcgroup.org + 52 5555 6326 64
(1) David Adam, "US Government answer to global
warming: Smoke and giant mirrors," The Guardian, 27 January 2007.
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Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
Wolfgangerstr. 26, A-4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
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