'Who owns nature?' is biotechnology conference focus, today and Friday

By Roger Segelken

Experts with a wide variety of perspectives at a conference at Cornell today and Friday, April 1 and 2, will attempt to answer the question: Who should rightfully profit from biotechnology's exploitation of the "intellectual property" of nature?

The two-day conference, titled "Owning Nature: Biotechnology, Biodiversity and Bioassets," is organized by the university's Governance and Nature Working Group and is sponsored by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies; Cornell Research Foundation; Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development; the Center for the Environment; and the Office of the University Provost.

The sessions begin at 9 a.m. each day in 401 Warren Hall and are free and open to the public. More information is available at the web site: http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu.

Among the topics for today's sessions are:

• "Bioprospecting: The New Natural History," 9-10 a.m., keynote address by Thomas Eisner, Section of Neurobiology and Behavior.

• "Case Studies in Bioprospecting and Institutions -- Part I," 10 a.m.-12:15 p.m., chaired by Eloy Rodriguez, Cornell's Bailey Hortorium; with Anna Sittenfeld, Center for Research in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Costa Rica; John Varley, Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park; and Preston Scott, World Foundation for Environment and Development.

• "Lessons from the Cases: Commentary and Discussion," 11:15 a.m.-1 p.m., facilitated by William Lacy, Department of Rural Sociology; with Henry Shands, USDA/Agricultural Research Service; Eloy Rodriguez; and Norman Uphoff, Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development.

• "Case Studies in Bioprospecting and Institutions -- Part II," 1:30-3:45 p.m., chaired by Carl Leopold, Boyce Thompson Institute; with Gay Nicholson, Finger Lakes Land Trust; Athula Attygalle, Mass Spectrometry Facility; Jerrold Meinwald, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology; and Charles Arntzen, Boyce Thompson Institute.

• "Lessons from Cases: Commentary and Discussion -- Part II," 4-5:15 p.m., facilitated by Theodore Hullar, Cornell Center for the Environment; with Bernard LeBuanec, International Seed Federation/International Association of Plant Breeders; David W. MacDonald, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Oxford University; and Richard McNeil, Cornell Department of Natural Resources.

Topics for the Friday sessions include:

• "Technology Drivers," 9-10:15 a.m., moderated by Richard Holsten, Cornell Center for Advanced Technology in Biotechnology; with Stephen Kresovich and Susan McCouch, Department of Plant Breeding; Carl Batt, Department of Food Science; Richard Quaas, Department of Animal Science; and commentary by Stephen Hilgartner, Science and Technology Studies.

• "Ownership: Social, Political and Ethical Issues," 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., chaired by Richard Cahoon, Cornell Research Foundation; with Henry Shands, USDA/Agricultural Research Service; Michael Goldman, law firm of Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle, Rochester; T.P. Sreenivasan, Embassy of India to the United States; with commentary by William Lacy and Maria Jose Sampiao, EMBRAPA, Brazil.

• "BioEconomics, BioBusiness," 1-3:30 p.m., chaired by Ronald Herring, Einaudi Center; with David Simpson, Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.; and Bernard LeBuanec; with commentary by Christopher Barrett, Department of Agricultural, Resource and Managerial Economics; John Kilama, DuPont Life Sciences Enterprise; William Lesser, Agricultural, Resource and Managerial Economics; and Christine Ranney, associate dean of the Graduate School.