 DECLINE IN GENETIC DIVERSITY: GLOBAL DISASTER IN THE MAKING

          Diversity in the gene pool is shrinking at an alarming rate and
     could lead to what Robert Cowen, science editor of the CHRISTIAN
     SCIENCE MONITOR, says "could become a mass extinction of Earth's plant
     and animal species." Species extinction of both plants and animals has
     accelerated rapidly in the 20th century and has reached what many feel
     is a state of crisis. From 1600 to 1900, one species disappeared every
     four years; now perhaps 1,000 species become extinct each year. The
     Worldwatch Institute pamphlet on conserving the diversity of life,
     published in June 1987, predicts the extinction rate in 20 years will
     reach more than 100 species per day.
          The loss of life forms is more than an aesthetic issue.  The
     rapid extinction of food crop germplasm represents a disaster in the
     making.  Unless the trend is slowed, mass famine on a global scale is
     a real possibility.  The International Board for Plant Genetic
     Resources has issued warnings that the genetic diversity of many of
     the staple crops that feed the world such as wheat, rice, barley,
     millet, and sorghum is imperiled.  72% of the U.S. potato crop is
     concentrated in four genetic strains.  Six varieties account for 71%
     of the corn crop.  Of the cataloged vegetables grown in the U.S. in
     1901/02, less than four percent still existed in 1985.
          Genetic diversity is a prerequisite for agricultural success.
     Genetic uniformity makes crops vulnerable to environmental threats
     such as pests, blight, and drought.  The Irish potato famine was the
     result of genetic uniformity. The U.S. lost 75% of its durum wheat
     crop in 1953/54 and 50% of its corn crop in 1970, both due to genetic
     uniformity.
          The dimunition of diversity has led to what some researchers call
     the global "seed wars."  As plant species disappear around the world,
     "access to, control over and preservation of plant genetic resources
     becomes a matter of international concern and conflict." The vast
     majority of the world's genetic resources is concentrated in the Third
     World. In order to prevent crop stains from inbreeding, the industrial
     nations resort to "germplasm appropriation," a strategy for collecting
     plant genetic material from Third World countries. The fact that the
     "collection" is done without recompense further exacerbates tensions
     between industrial and developing nations.
          The Plant Variety Protection Act legislation of 1970, which
     broadened the interpretation of U.S. patent laws to allow corporations
     to patent seed varieties, has accelerated the extinction rate of food
     crop germplasm.  Germplasm appropriated from the Third World is sold
     back to developing countries in the form of hybridized, patented seed.
     Farmers in the world's centers of diversity are planting genetically
     uniform crops more and more frequently, thus causing further loss of
     indigenous seed.  The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
     estimates that two thirds of all Third World crops will be from
     uniform strains by the year 2000.
          The disappearance of genetic diversity either by accident or
     design is a critical issue that has had little media coverage or
     public debate. Germplasm has not made headlines.  There are no "Save
     the Barley" bumperstickers. Yet every day, more and more of our
     precious food sources disappear forever.

          SOURCES:  UTNE READER, Jan/Feb 1988, "Conserving the Diversity of
     Life," by Jeremiah Creedon, pp 15-16;  MOTHER JONES, December 1982,
     "Seeds of Disaster," by Mark Schapiro, pp 11-15, 36-37.
