Genetically modified diplomat
U.S. foreign policy: GMO all the way
by Tom Philpott

About a week ago, The New York Times ran a brief interview with Nina V. Federoff, official "science and technology adviser" to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Not surprisingly, Condoleeza Rice's science czar has a special place in her heart for genetically modified organisms. In the Times interview, Federoff defends GMOs:

There's almost no food that isn't genetically modified. Genetic modification is the basis of all evolution.... The paradox is that now that we've invented techniques that introduce just one gene without disturbing the rest, some people think that's terrible.
Right; GMOs merely mimic nature, and are thus no different than any other organisms. But if that's true, then why do GMOs require such draconian intellectual property protection? Why should Monsanto be able to enforce patent claims on, say, Round Up Ready soybean seeds?

Perhaps Federoff is pushing an open-source approach to GMOs -- the idea that a handful of of companies shouldn't be able to lock up ownership of globe's most widely planted seeds. But given her corporate affiliations -- which the Times didn't see fit to divulge -- that's doubtful.

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