Nowadays, at the beginning of the 21st century, the world food situation is very contrasted : on one side, abundance, and even overnourishment, for about 1.3 billion people living in developed countries mainly ; on the other side, permanent hunger for about 800 million people living in...

During millenniums, access to and use of plant genetic resources have been free, or almost free. From the first half of the 20th century onwards, the protection of commercial benefits of new plant breeders through certain specific titles of protection maintained the right for anyone to use a...