Last week, the European Patent Office revoked agricultural conglomerate Monsanto's patent on a variety of Indian Nap Hal wheat, widely used in chapatis because it doesn't rise when baked (via Boing Boing). Indians had cried biopiracy, reacting the way we would if France had patented apple pie (Monsanto is based in St. Louis, Missouri).
The wheat's low gluten content gives it low water absorption and elasticity. One scientist elaborated on how the patent's central claim was not novel:
The Indian wheat patent by Monsanto has lower gluten, which is responsible for its lower elasticity... This is the trait that is the core of Monsanto's patent and it is a trait evolved by farmers breeding in India. Introducing the trait into a cross... is an obvious step any breeder familiar with the art of breeding can undertake. Monsanto's claim is clearly not novel. This is a clear case of piracy of India's indigenous knowledge of breeding and cooking.
Yes, breeding and cooking: the desi core competencies. The patent opposition was filed in conjunction with Greenpeace.
Monsanto denied the patents would be used to block Indian farmers from using their Nap Hal seed. "Indian users can use Nap Hal for chapatis or whatever else, now and just as they've always been used to," McDermott told The Scientist. "The idea that Indian farmers would have to pay royalties to use Nap Hal, that's just inflammatory and ridiculous."
The controversy echoes the neem patent case in 2000. Neem leaves are widely used in ayurvedic remedies. The EPO revoked this patent, held by the U.S. government and W.R. Grace on a neem-based fungicide.
Here is the patent text.
