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Farming the Genetic Frontier: The Transformation of American Agriculture in the 1970s-1980s
Unformatted Document Text:  1 Shelley L. Hurt, Ph.D. Candidate Department of Political Science Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science New School for Social Research “Farming the Genetic Frontier: The Origins of Agricultural Biotechnology within the U.S., 1970 - 1974”* Prepared for delivery at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 2 – September 5, 2004. Copyright by the American Political Science Association ABSTRACT: Contemporary debates over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are polarized between proponents claiming they seek to end world hunger and opponents insisting that “Frankenfoods” will destroy the ecosystem. While these debates focus on the virtues and vices of scientists and corporations, they conspicuously ignore the significant involvement of the American state in spurring the development of GMOs. This paper explores the U.S. government’s role in laying a market foundation for the agricultural biotechnology industry. It concentrates on intellectual property rights as the primary policy tool deployed by policymakers to foster growth in the biotechnology sector. In situating the historical context in which molecular biology’s commercial potential became evident, this paper reveals the origins of this contemporary debate. I argue the government’s intervention into this economic sector, during the early 1970s, should be seen as part of a broad-based industrial strategy to enhance U.S. competitiveness in world food markets. *DRAFT: Please do not cite or quote without author’s permission. ## email not listed ##

Authors: Hurt, Shelley.
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1

Shelley L. Hurt, Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Political Science
Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science
New School for Social Research
“Farming the Genetic Frontier:
The Origins of Agricultural Biotechnology within the U.S., 1970 - 1974”*
Prepared for delivery at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science
Association, September 2 – September 5, 2004.
Copyright by the American Political Science Association

ABSTRACT:
Contemporary debates over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are polarized
between proponents claiming they seek to end world hunger and opponents insisting that
“Frankenfoods” will destroy the ecosystem. While these debates focus on the virtues and
vices of scientists and corporations, they conspicuously ignore the significant
involvement of the American state in spurring the development of GMOs. This paper
explores the U.S. government’s role in laying a market foundation for the agricultural
biotechnology industry. It concentrates on intellectual property rights as the primary
policy tool deployed by policymakers to foster growth in the biotechnology sector. In
situating the historical context in which molecular biology’s commercial potential
became evident, this paper reveals the origins of this contemporary debate. I argue the
government’s intervention into this economic sector, during the early 1970s, should be
seen as part of a broad-based industrial strategy to enhance U.S. competitiveness in world
food markets.


*DRAFT: Please do not cite or quote without author’s permission. ## email not listed ##















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