George Rebane

“Last spring, (Switzerland) began mandating that geneticists conduct their research without trampling on a plant’s dignity.” reports the 10oct08 WSJ on its front page.  The piece goes on to detail how new constitutional modifications are making research in plant genetics a tortuous trail of following mandated procedures which are beyond silly.  Some excerpts from the article by Gautam Naik.

The rule, based on a constitutional amendment, came into being after the Swiss Parliament asked a panel of philosophers, lawyers, geneticists and theologians to establish the meaning of flora’s dignity.

Where does it stop?” asks Yves Poirier, a molecular biologist at the laboratory of plant biotechnology at the University of Lausanne. “Should we now defend the dignity of microbes and viruses?

Things took a surreal turn when it was disclosed that some (plant ethics) panel members believe plants have feelings, Dr. Poirier says.

Defenders of the law argue that it reflects a broader, progressive effort to protect the sanctity of living things.

In another unusual move, the people of Ecuador last month voted for a new constitution that is the first to recognize ecosystem rights enforceable in a court of law. Thus, the nation’s rivers, forests and air are no longer mere property, but right-bearing entities with “the right to exist, persist and…regenerate.”

Dr. Keller in Zurich has more mundane concerns. He wants to breed wheat that can resist powdery mildew. In lab experiments, Dr. Keller found that by transferring certain genes from barley to wheat, he could make the wheat resistant to disease. … In June, about 35 members of a group opposed to the genetic modification of crops, invaded the test field. Clad in white overalls and masks, they scythed and trampled the plants, causing plenty of damage. … “They just cut them,” says Dr. Keller, gesturing to wheat stumps left in the field. “Where’s the dignity in that?”

So how long will it be until the Moonbeams of America will start mobilizing – first in California, of course – to write into law the newly ‘discovered’ rights of plants and entire ecosystems.  Led by California, America has been the major breadbasket of the world – above all the other things we do well, we can grow stuff like no one else on this planet.  Will we soon begin to have highly publicized demonstrations in our wheat and soybean fields, and at the gates of John Deere and Caterpillar demanding that the dignity of these crops not be violated?  I can see the mandated requirement for species-specific, fieldside memorial services before any crop is harvested.  After all, this is America and we will have to show some leadership in this new area of eco-sensitivity.