Syllabus

Updated: 17 Apr 07

Context and History of GM

1/16
QUIZ		 Introduction (ppt)

On these assignments, see note

- Charles 2001, Lords of the Harvest
- DeVries & Toenniessen on defining biotechnology (not the excerpt from p. 73)
- optional: Source Watch and entry on Ctr Cons Freedom

1/18 Future of Food video (note) (ppt)
1/23 History of GM (ppt)
1/25 Social history of GM (ppt) - Stone 2002, "Both Sides Now" including online backgrounder (pdf file with separate backgrounder)

Biology of GM

1/30 B. Kunkel: genes & expression (ppt, pdf) - Chrispeels & Sadava, Molecular Basis of Genetic Modification (Chapter 6) (Eres)
- Recommended: Glick & Pasternak, DNA-RNA-Protein Synthesis (Eres)
2/1 E. Richards: how transformation works (pdf)
2/6 B. Kunkel and E. Richards: After transformation (ppt, pdf) - Chrispeels & Sadava, 20 on myths and facts related to safety of GM crops -- especially Myths 1, 6, 9, sections 20.3 and 20.4 -- but treat it more as an editorial than a scientific account (Eres)
- Recommended: Bach & Khan 2004 Taming Plastids, on chloroplast transformation

Theory and Politics of Designing Plants
2/8
quiz 1
Tampering with nature? (ppt) no reading, but look ahead -- the next 2 assignments are fairly long
2/13 Formal breeding (ppt) and commodification of agriculture (ppt)

Kloppenburg 2005, First the Seed, chaps 1-2, or chaps 1-7, 10, 11 if this is your optional book. 

2/15
2/20

Food quantity and quality (ppt)

 - Borlaug 2000, Are We Going Mad?
- Sen 1981, chapter 1 from Poverty and Famine
- Pollan 2007, Unhappy Meals
- Schlosser 2001, Food Product Design (from Fast Food Nation)
- NYT 2003, The Food Simulator
- Optional: Science review of Watson; Sen 1993, Economics of Life & Death, pp. 40-42

Gene Flow and the Politics of Studying It; GM and the Corporate University

2/22 B. Schaal: Biology of gene flow (ppt- 22 mB and pdf - 5 mB)

No reading
- optional: Snow 2003, Unnatural selection
- Can the "terminator" GURT spread? (Vandana thinks so...)

2/27 - 3/1

Scientific politics, public discourse, and university-industry relations (ppt)

Universities and Industry
- Etzkowitz & Leyesdorff 1997 Universities in the global knowledge economy excerpt
optional: Stein 2004, Buying In or Selling Out: The Commercialization of the American Research University

Mexican maize: The research
- skim: Quist & Chapela 2001, original paper (also as pdf )
- skim: Quist & Chapela 2002, follow-up including editorial note
- optional: Bellon & Berthaud 2004, Transgenic Maize & Farmer Bahavior

The Chapela Case
- Caught in the maize at Berkeley
- optional: Chapela 2006 (Scandal reveals political greed)
- optional: Berkeley webcast on scientific dissent
- optional: index to articles on Chapela
- optional: Tenured si tethered no

Chapela Spin
- skim: Guardian 2002, Mexican govn findings and on Nature's handling of paper
- CBI 2002, industry view of the Nature paper
- Monbiot 2002, Fake Persuaders (including the CFFAR site & Smetacek petition)
- AP 2002, article on "corporate meddling in academia"
- optional: WP article on internet shills and meat puppets

Sunflowers: The research
- skim: Snow et al. 2003, Bt Transgene...

Sunflowers Spin
- Nature story on blocking Snow's research
- Stewart 2003, Press Before Paper or pdf
- Nature summary of Stewart study or pdf
- optional: Syngenta and Hayes

Latest on transgenes in Mexico
- skim: Ortiz-Garcia et al. 2005, Absence of detectable transgenes...
- Soleri et al. 2006, Transgenic Crops and Crop Varietal Diversity: The Case of Maize in Mexico
- optional: Raven 2005, Transgenes in Mexican maize: desirability of inevitability?

3/6 John Peck: Corporate and military penetration of a university

Peck 2000 (Suits and Spooks - How to Research, Expose, and Challenge Military and Corporate Influence on Your Campus)

Midterm and Break
3/8 Midterm exam 1 (whole course to date)
3/13-15 Break

International GMO's: Intellectual Property, WTO, and Biotech for the Poor

3/20 - 3/22

IP - domestic (ppt) (ppt)

patents!

MIT Human Gene Patents
(to search on gene "Xa21", type "Xa21[sym]" in gene box)

 

 - Sell 2003 (from US Int. Prop. Rights in Historical Perspective pp. 60-72)
- Golden 2001 ( Biotechnology, Technology Policy, and Patentability, pt I)
- Pringle 2003:85-93 (from Food Inc.)
- look at patent #5,352,605 at USPTO
Recommended:
- Noonan 2004 (When Words Fail)
- Stone 2005, A Science of the Gray, pp. 204-208
- Jensen & Murray 2005, Intellectual Property Landscape of the Human Genome
3/27

IP - international:
WTO and TRIPS

(ppt)

- Crucible II Group 2000 (Seeding Solutions, pp. 86-108)
- Stock and Johnston 2001 on Battle in Seattle
Recommended
- WIRED: Geography of the Genome
- McMichael 2000, Global Food Politics (Eres)
- Lessig 2004, Taste of Our Own Poison
- Cohen 2005, Poorer nations turn to public GM crops

3/29

WTO and TRIPS

Review

 -Martineau 2001, First Fruit pp. 60-109 (or all if this is your optional book ) (note)
- Eichenwald et al. 2001, Biotechnology Food: From the Lab to a Debacle
- Federal Register on Coordinated Framework (Vol 51, June 26, 1986,  just pp. 23302-23310.
- Federal Register on Food Policy (Vol 57, May 29, 1992,  pp. 22984-23005.)
4/3 Mini-Midterm 2 (whole course to date but emphasis on 3/20 on)
4/5 Jose Falck-Zepeda (ppt) The economics of it all
4/10

N. Taylor: biotech for Africa (pdf)

- Taylor et al. 2004 (Development and application of transgenic technologies in cassava) -- see note
- Recommended: abstracts on increased starch (Ihemere et al. 2006) and virus resistance (Chellappan et al. 2004)
4/12

Road trip
1:07 sharp in front of Brookings

- peruse the DDPSC website and in particular read the mission statement; view the ILTAB page
4/17

Africa

(ppt)

 - DeVries and Toenniessen 2001 Securing the Harvest Chap 5
- BBC 2002, Food Crisis Worsens in Southern Africa
- Toronto Star 2002, Millions Dying (reposted on the CBI website)
- Greenpeace 2002, USAID and GM Food Aid (pdf)
- CS Monitor 2003 on the Zambian famine that wasn't
- Smale et al. 2006, Bales and Balances -- section on So. Africa
Recommended:
- Georgetown study: Genetically Modified Food in the Southern Africa Food Crisis of 2002-2003
- NYT 2004 on GM ban in Angola
- Wash Post 2003 on efforts to ease famine in Africa
4/19

S. America; China (ppt);

start India (ppt)

- Stone 2002, Biotechnology and Suicide in India
- Smale et al. 2006, Bales and Balances -- section on China
Recommended:
- Pray et al. 2002, Five Years of Bt Cotton in China
- Stone 2005, A Science of the Gray: Malthus, Marx, and the Ethics of Studying Crop Biotechnology
4/24 India - Leonard 2007, Ganesh and Brahma bow to a new god
- Stone 2007, Birth and Death of Traditional Knowledge
Recommended:
- Stone 2007, Agricultural Deskilling and the Spread of Genetically Modified Cotton in Warangal
- Stone 2005, A Science of the Gray: Malthus, Marx, and the Ethics of Studying Crop Biotechnology

Hey, I Don't Like'em Any More Than You Do

4/26

Final exam (cumulative but with a somewhat greater emphasis on material after the mini-midterm)