Free the seed! Irwin Goldman and OSSI work towards open-source seeds

Open source can grow across many different areas. From computers to the environment, Irwin Goldman utilizes open source ideas to promote a freer farm. A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, Goldman’s research currently focuses on plant breeding. He is also an associate dean for the College of Agricultural Life Sciences.

Goldman was drawn into the open source realm after 40 years of plant breeding, the germplasm — the plant’s raw genetic material — continuously being controlled by patents. His grandfather designed and patented things when he immigrated to Chicago, Goldman jokes that he is the antithesis of patenting as he works in open source.

“In my family, there’s this history of this really important person in my family who was an inventor, who got a patent and nothing ever came of that patent, but I found myself sort of on the opposite side,” Goldman said. “It just makes me appreciate the whole spectrum even more.”

In 2014, Goldman and a group of other scientists launched the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) to help keep seeds free from patents, licenses and even contracts. Goldman worried that if the genetic material of these agricultural plants became too constricted by patents it would be difficult to modify and breed these plants as our climate continues to change. Jack Kloppenberg — a UW-Madison professor emeritus in the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology — was one of the main people to begin the initiative after spending his career working on the control of seeds as a sociologist.

The initiative was inspired by open source software, how software can be offered to people free of charge and does not restrict anyone’s usage. Similarly, the nonprofit highlights small seed companies that do not patent their seeds.

“In some ways creating code is not that different in some ways than creating a new variety of a tomato,” Goldman said. “It’s just that it turns out that there were enough very significant differences like the tools, the equipment and the time that you need.”

The seeds from farms that are promoted by OSSI have an OSSI certification mark on the packaging. This way, farmers know that their seeds are open source and can be used and modified to better serve their needs as they produce this agriculture.

“If you look very closely, it’ll say that ‘By opening this packet, you agree to the following terms,’ which is very much like a software license,” Goldman said. “If you open the packet, you agree that you can use it for anything you want. You can cross it, breed it, select it, trade it, sell it, whatever, but you can’t restrict other people’s use of it.”

Goldman, along with the others behind the initiative, decided on this pledge as an ethical enforcement to hold those using the seeds accountable. However, there is no way of knowing if these farmers are using the seeds as Goldman and the initiative intended.

“It carried a certain weight because we’re basically saying, ‘As humans here, we’re going to agree that this is how we’re going to treat this stuff,’” Goldman said. “The group spent a lot of time thinking about the mechanics of how this could work in the real world and whether it would work in the real world.”

OSSI has been able to create a space that has not been in this community before. The community surrounding organic agriculture and genetics was something Goldman deemed to be unique and wonderfully gratifying.

“When I think back on all the things that I’ve got to work on here, this is like pretty much my all-time favorite project because it’s really cool to do a science project, write a paper, have it published in a scientific journal or teach a class. I love those things, but this one just resonated at a different level,” Goldman said.

While the university in contrast protects its seeds developed on campus, Goldman does most of his research through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), who also fundamentally believe in protecting the technology that is created through them. With OSSI, Goldman had developed a new set of seeds for OSSI, and upon their release, WARF agreed Goldman should release them, despite their stance.

“The university has been surprisingly wonderful and supportive and kind to me, even knowing that I was involved in this initiative,” Goldman said. “It was just good, I love this place and I feel like it respected this viewpoint and helped me even.”

As many around the university are constantly performing research, one of the most important aspects of open source is how it promotes innovation. The constant modification of technology allows for research to continue to grow and to help better serve our communities and world. OSSI’s continuous promotion for innovation and modification through free seeds ensures seed genetics are not restricted by patents or contracts.

“It fosters tinkering, which I think is really one of the best things you could ever have for science and learning. That to me is the best value of it is you feel empowered to take the thing and do something with it without fear of consequences,” Goldman said. “That to me is like a wonderful component of an education.”