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Reclaim the Seeds
*This page was done by a student as an assignment for Biology 362 |
All comments and questions can be directed to Kevin Saunders. |
Introduction Genetically modified organisms-more specifically plants-have been highly debated for numerous years. The biotechnology companies involved in this new application of science have been rediculed by farmers, grass roots organizations, and anti-biotechnology activists. One such activist group, called Reclaim the Seeds (RTS) has been highly active in California. RTS has staged known attacks against the University of California at Davis (UC-Davis) and the U.S.D.A.'s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Western Regional Research Center (http://www.tao.ca/~ban/500ARrts.htm , 2000; http://www.tao.ca/~ban/800ARrtsdavis.htm , 2000). There are two incidents that occurred at ARS that have been attributed to RTS (http://www.tao.ca/~ban/500ARrts.htm , 2000). Although ARS has been visited twice, UC-Davis has been the primary target. There are five known occasions where RTS has gone to the University of California at Davis and destroyed crops (http://www.tao.ca/~ban/800ARrtsdavis.htm , 2000).
The last visit that Reclaim the Seeds paid to the University of California at Davis was on August 10, 2000 . The events of the night were caught on tape and made available to the public. For security reasons, UC-Davis did not announce that the attack happened until a month later. RTS boasts that they cut down eighty percent of the corn present at UC-Davis. RTS cut down only eighty percent, because they left a border of stalks around them to conceal their deed as they worked. These crops were a joint project between Novartis and UC-Davis (http://www.tao.ca/~ban/800ARrtsdavis.htm , 2000).
This site is maintained by Kevin Saunders, a student at Davidson College. |