Transgenic Transnational Relations

In: Peace review: the international quarterly of world peace, Band 12, Heft 4, S. 533-539

Abstract

Maintains that the biotechnology revolution will forever change the structure of global production. Agronomists are being replaced by molecular biologists & control over the raw materials of biotechnology is becoming a divisive international issue. Information obtained from interviews with four agricultural researchers & questionnaires completed by 237 agricultural biotechnologists in US universities reveals important shifts in ranking the criteria for research, indicating that the everyday choices of agricultural scientists will ultimately determine the impact of biotechnology on developing countries. More than half of all 1990s US doctorates in the agricultural sciences were awarded to foreign students, mostly from developing nations. The impact of the distancing between researcher & farmer is discussed, along with the increasing specialization of agricultural scientists, & the need for sophisticated laboratories to enable graduates to utilize their skills. Scientists produced by US universities are not focused on the rural poor, multidisciplinary studies, or on-site fieldwork, which puts their agendas at odds with the needs of small-scale farmers. Suggestions are made for ways to bridge the chasm. J. Lindroth