Woohoo! I hope this catches on and survives challenges which I am sure will come.
I’m really happy to hear this, awesome news!!!
BUT I’m even more sad that it is even necessary. If anything belongs in the commons it is all the various genomes in nature and all of their infinite possible variations, even newly developed ones. It shouldn’t be possible to copyright any genetics or seeds, imho.
Yeah, there’s a fundamental disconnect between patents and biology, since patents seek to control when and where things are reproduced, and most plants and animals just reproduce whenever it’s possible. You can’t really square the two unless you think it’s okay to steal the commons from the public.
It doesn’t seem to have Corn, Soybeans, or Cotton? Why create something like this and then avoid the three big cash crop seeds? Is there really a threat that Monsanto is going to patent quinoa for some reason?
Hmmm, but can I create a virus that will specifically attack them?
Wow! I’m wondering if we’ll have eco-warriors that will spread these seeds into Monsanto’s source fields (or even plant them within 30 miles). When Monsanto tries to sell the seed… BAM, their entire genome is forced to be laid open.
They weren’t kidding when they warned us the copy-left licenses were viral…I need to turn this into a short story STAT. 
No intellectual property? What the hell use are they then?
Yeah, it just means I’ve got to CC licence it too when I reverse-engineer it to destroy mankind.
Ryjkyj here, inventor of the carrot. I’m coming for you, hippies.
Your comment made me sad because I can see the truth in this insight as it applies to the future of food. While I know you jest, I wouldn’t put it past large bio-tech to engineer fungus or bacteria that attack competing products or wild strains, giving them a competitive edge. Even if there was a law against it, which there currently isn’t, proving that anyone released some spores into the wild would be very difficult to do, and the ramifications would be global.
What I want to know is who is going to protect the quadrotriticale?
How about the GPL Gene which prohibits linking into derivative genomes, unless the derivative genome is also open sourced?
Actually that would fall under the jurisdiction of APHIS.
I don’t know if there are many nonhybrid varieties of corn out there. You might be able to find some used by Native American tribes, who used to have their own varieties. But a variety from Arizona wouldn’t be expected to be resistant to common fungi in Alabama. And local indigenous people may be unwilling to share after indoctrination from anti-GMO activists.
No potatos or tomatos either. I’m dissapointed they don’t have chillies, although they do have sweet peppers.
So that others don’t have to dive the rabbit hole to simply find out what’s on offer: http://www.opensourceseedinitiative.org/seeds/
Yeah, not much here for back-yard gardeners. It takes time to locate “wild” and/or unpatented varieties that are commercially viable and reproducible at scale. I’d imagine In future years, we should reasonably expect a wider swath of veggies.
Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl novel is set in a future where the big Agri-cos have went to war against each other (and non-GMO foods). The short story that came before the novel, Calorie Man, is available as a PDF here
oh wow, now i know what i’ll be reading tonight.  thanks!
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