The sequencing of the rice genome recently not only opened up the largely untapped commercial possibilities of the tiny cereal but also set the pace for potential intellectual property rights disputes between corporate entities and governments.
"The advent of biotechnology has caused a spurt in patents on gene products associated with rice," said Ronald Cantrell, director of the Philippines-based IRRI, founded in 1960 to conduct cutting-edge research to boost yields and raise pest resistance of tropical rice varieties.
Rice is the staple food of half of mankind but compared to wheat or maize, rice patents comprise "a very small percentage" among the cereals, he added.
Held in deep freeze at a laboratory near Manila, IRRI holds in trust for humanity an invaluable gene bank of more than 100,000 rice varieties. It distributes the seeds globally for research on the condition that the users do not take out patents on them.
N. R. Sackville Hamilton, head of the IRRI gene bank, recalled a 1995 flap caused by the inadvertent dispatch of jasmine rice seeds to the United States, which sparked fears Thailand’s valuable export trade in the aromatic grains would be ruined.
The recipients later agreed not to take out patents on the grains.
"Ten to 15 years ago, we did not worry about it. That’s not true now," Cantrell said.
Scientific breakthroughs and private sector involvement are occurring amid declining funding for agricultural research in general.