Andrew Torrance, “Planted Obsolescence: Synagriculture and the Law,” Idaho L. Rev., 2012

University of Kansas School of Law Professor Andrew Torrance discusses in
this article the promises of synthetic biology, which takes genetic engineering
(GE) one step further by designing organisms from scratch, and its potential
perils. Dubbed “synagriculture,” the new technology is apparently being
developed by those dedicated to sharing, spreading and pooling innovative
biotechnologies and eschewing patent, copyright, trademark, and trade
secrecy to protect inventions. Part of the Do-It-Yourself biology movement,
synagriculture, according to the author, represents a democratization of GE
crop and livestock development, which some contend has given agricultural
companies too much control over farmers. After reviewing an array of GE legal
issues, Torrance concludes, “it would be well and wise for the law to prepare
itself to reexamine the brave new world of synagriculture with brand new
eyes.”