The Smithsonian steps on the ants

Iconic museum files patent claim on fungi to control leafcutter ants—a well-known fact

Myriad gains, we all lose

The US appeals court has upheld the patents for isolated human genes, ignoring scientists’ warning that it would obstruct vital research …

WHOSE SEED IS IT ANYWAY?

The rich world’s mania for patenting seeds and pushing the UPOV agenda do not aid food security or biological diversity

Elusive hunt for skills and jobs

Budget outlays will not do much for job creation or readying youth for skilled work

Indications of a geographic muddle

Are Geographical Indications safeguarding the interests of growers and artisans?

We need our slaves

India tops the list of countries with huge numbers of modern slaves. But there is little outrage or concern here over what is an everyday reality

Beyond a flailing state

Health ministry cannot provide basic services, the finance ministry cannot collect taxes and the chaos of governance worsens

Stepsons of the Ganga

A fascinating account of the men who ply the emblematic boats of Banaras and embody its very essence

Blacked out & hacked

The fight to protect Internet freedom turns into war of attrition as protests against US measures to curb piracy grow strident

'They asked me to withdraw my court case'

P PARDHA SARADHI is tenacious. This mild-mannered professor at the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of Delhi (DU) has …

Drained royally by MNCs

Royalty payments to firms like Suzuki and Monsanto are sucking out huge sums from India

A nobel indictment of gene patenting

Legendary scientist James Watson files court brief against lunacy of gene patents

Tesla's `insane' move to free up patents

The electric carmaker's decision could spur a revolution in green vehicles and in the way patents are viewed

The aam politician is a crorepati

Every other politician who is elected now is a crorepati, even those in the Aam Aadmi Party

Why do we need patents?

There is no empirical evidence that patents serve to increase innovation and productivity

Prometheus bound

The denial of a patent on a medical test that correlates drug dosages with treatment could mean the end of human gene patents

GEAC, experts slip on basics?

As the biotech industry takes heart from the prime minister’s remark, a fresh report shows India’s regulation and expertise on GM …

The poverty quibble

Government claims a huge drop in poverty numbers but critical indicators—health, malnutrition and wages—continue to be grim. So how …

All our nuclear lies exposed

Book >> The Power Of Promise: Examining Nuclear Energy In India • by M V Ramana • Penguin/Viking • Price Rs 699

A myriad gene worries

Angelina Jolie’s dramatic disclosure has focused attention on gene patenting which has become a problematic legal question

Maya of Indian Science

Lies, denial and outright fraud have become the hallmark of Indian agricultural research because there is no accountability

Ignore US bullying on IPRs

Countries should not be stampeded into changing laws by the USTR's arbitrary Special 301 report

Delhi University's gene mystery

Department of Science and Technology has no idea where GM lines in a high-profile case came from and who gave permission for research

Linkage between science and public policy has weakened

M S Swaminathan, popularly known as the father of India’s Green Revolution, has been associated with national agricultural research system (…

Public domain is not elementary, Sherlock

The Sherlock Holmes case highlights the stranglehold of copyright laws in the US