G noplante favours limited technology, undeniably cutting-edge but already routine and inevitably ephemeral, to the detriment of multidisciplinary research based on molecular biology, cytology, genetics, plant physiology and ecophysiology which are more necessary than ever for an understanding of how plants function. G noplante's reorientation of public laboratories towards industrial patenting will distract them from their research goals whilst other laboratories working on their own will have their budgets trimmed. This forced 'technologisation' imposes a unique and sterile 'genome only' debate on plant research, and there is the danger that in due course it will become isolated from new ideas. The fourth mistake is the desire to compete with companies in the US in the legal arena, in which the US already has an unfair advantage. Neoliberalism has imposed the generally-accepted idea that patents stimulate innovation and progress.
Victory seems less certain here.
In this particular battle, G noplante will pick up only a few consolation prizes. The fifth mistake is the underestimation of the importance of free access to genetic resources and knowledge. This was the case in the Green Revolution. Successive crossings of Japanese wheat varieties of Russian and US origin with other US and Mexican varieties, initially by US and then Mexican researchers considerably increased crop yields in Mexico in the 1950s. This is a lamentable step backwards.