Tools and Technology | Open-Source Initiative Circumvents Biotech Patents

Though agricultural biotechnology has the potential to transform small-scale farming in developing countries, such transformation faces a major bottleneck: the intellectual property landscape. Though agricultural biotechnology has the potential to transform small-scale farming in developing countries, such transformation faces a major bottleneck: the intellectual property landscape. Case in point: Golden Rice, engineered to produce beta-carotene (a source of vitamin A), is subject to approximately 40 patents that initially hampered its dissemination to developing countries.