Certainly so in many cases, but it's not difficult to imagine strains for mass consumption hobbled by proprietary sequences that cause the plants to wither without a certain additive or activate some kind of DNA-destruction process if not crossbred with another secret strain.
It's sad to think so, but it may be a wise course to consider the freedom to grow a tomato you found at the supermarket a temporary privilege while the ones who grew it find ways of taking it away and cementing their advantage. Imagine 15 years ago saying "I can take this game and install it on my computer, my kid's computer, and my laptop" or "I'll lend this copy of a movie to a friend." These processes, once simple and impossible to interrupt, are now often carried out only with permission. Other examples, of course, abound.
Open source seeds may be an idea before its time, but should its time arrive, we'll be glad to have nurtured it early!
It's sad to think so, but it may be a wise course to consider the freedom to grow a tomato you found at the supermarket a temporary privilege while the ones who grew it find ways of taking it away and cementing their advantage. Imagine 15 years ago saying "I can take this game and install it on my computer, my kid's computer, and my laptop" or "I'll lend this copy of a movie to a friend." These processes, once simple and impossible to interrupt, are now often carried out only with permission. Other examples, of course, abound.
Open source seeds may be an idea before its time, but should its time arrive, we'll be glad to have nurtured it early!