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CORVALLIS, Ore. - An expert on international trade law will discuss "Owning Genes and Organisms: New Issues for Agriculture and Society," on Wednesday, May 10, in the next lecture sponsored by the Food for Thought Lecture Series at Oregon State University.

John Barton from the Stanford School of Law will discuss the benefits and risks of agricultural crop patents, including the issues raised in recent political documentaries and the U.S. Supreme Court case Monsanto v. Schemiser, in which a Canadian farmer was sued by Monsanto over claimed seed and pollen drifting onto his land.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be from 7-9 p.m. in the LaSells Stewart Center Engineering Auditorium on the OSU campus.

Barton has extensive experience in international trade law, has served on several national policy committees, and has published extensively on the consequences of the growing strength of intellectual property rights in agricultural biotechnology.

The Food for Thought Lecture Series is sponsored by the Oregon State University Outreach in Biotechnology Program, with funding from the College of Agricultural Sciences and College of Forestry. The last lecture of the academic year, on May 22, will cover production of vaccines in genetically engineered crops to treat epidemic diseases of the developing world.

For more information, visit http://wwwdata.forestry.oregonstate.edu/orb/events/lectureseries/index.htm