Obit: Creator of "doomsday vault" for seeds

[MountainLaurel]

Bent Skovmand, 61, a plant scientist who helped oversee the creation of a "doomsday vault" to house as many as 3 million of the world's crop seeds in case of disaster, died Feb. 6 in Kavlinge, Sweden. Swedish media reports said he died of brain tumor complications.

The seed bank, which is under construction inside a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Ocean, will reportedly be the largest in the world when it opens in September. Its purpose is to ensure the survival of crop diversity in the event of plant epidemics, nuclear war, natural disasters or climate change and to offer a chance to restart the growth of food crops that might be wiped out.

Mr. Skovmand, a University of Minnesota graduate, traveled around the globe collecting and studying wheat and other plant types for the bank, protecting them from human encroachment and breeding them to make stronger, more disease-resistant strains.

Mr. Skovmand's scientific achievements earned him numerous awards, but most notable was the Knight's Cross of the Order of Dannebrog, given to him in 2003 by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. After he was knighted, Mr. Skovmand was appointed director of the Nordic Gene Bank, a center in Sweden that works to conserve, document and use plant resources.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021801313.html

[htuttle]

1. As I suggested in another post about the vault

...they really ought to bury Skovmand inside a sarcophagus in the vault, just to give future archaeologists something to argue about...

:evilgrin:

[msongs]

2. why do democrats allow patents on life forms and corporations like Monsanto

genetically alter food plants and then screw farmers whose own crops are poisoned by those genetically altered crops? These genetically altered franken-genes are contaminating and destroying naturally occuring species.

When Monsanto patents a gene found in human bodies, you will have to pay Monsanto for the right to use that gene to live.

the democrats are on the take to corporations. as much as we love some aspects of democrats in congress the fact is they are mostly bought and sold commodities doing the bidding of their corporate masters.

we need to end ALL farm related subsidies which prop up these corporate schemes while masquerading as benefits to the American mythic of small/family farmers.

ALL foods containing genetically altered products must be clearly labeled as such, or banned outright.

Patents on life forms should be revoked and banned.


Nobody should be allowed in a government job that regulates the previous employer of the applicant.

Msongs
www.youtube.com/videos/msongs

[Javaman]

3. "the democrats are on the take to corporations."

Actually it was ray-gun that allowed the first patenting of a living organism. Carter given the bill said no.

Most ex members of con-agra and monsanto now members of the various dept in the U.S. gov't as appointed by the republicans and moron* himself.

Please don't point fingers at only the democrats for being on the take it was the republicans who started it back in 1982 thus violating 200 years of constitutional law which states that no living organism can be copyrighted or patented.

please feel free to check out the resumes of the dept of interior and the dept of ag. both repukes.