Okey to use seedbanks strains to do my own strains?

I don't know how anyone would really get their own wild genetics any longer. Aside a trip and a hike in some very remote and dangerous regions.

I do think extracting and isolating a particular trait over several generations is ok. I don't think a simple cross and relabel is ethical.
 
As a follow up, I think the difference between breeding vs pollen chucking is a lot like the difference between a byb and an ethical breeder in the animal world, though slightly different as there's not a living animal involved. The differentiation being that a breeder has goals and specific things they are looking to improve or bring about over generations and there is typically quite a bit of prior thought, planning, and testing along the way. A byb (or a pollen chucker in this case) is putting two parents together with little to no regard to the genetics they are combining and without a plan in mind regarding traits they are trying to improve on etc, and generally strictly for profit or because they can. In this case, as there isn't going to be major negative implications to the offspring from "bad breeding" as there is with animals, I wouldn't say it is strictly unethical to do. However I do think that slapping strains together with no regard and then passing them off to others for a profit without any sort of testing or doing work to stabilize is definitely shady. I have zero issues buying or growing F1s as long as there is transparency in that, but I do think trying to pass off F1s as stable genetics just for the sake of making money is wrong. Breeding isn't just about making more of the thing, breeding is a selective process that should be undertaken specifically to better the genetics you are working with. Again, just my personal opinion as someone coming from a different sort of breeding background.
 
So what I have gotten out of this thread is that there are indignant rat breeders and ethical drug dealers. :crying: I kid, I kid. :biggrin: But seriously, when you start talking about ethics and property rights in a field of endeavor that is still illegal in many places, things get a tad fuzzy. :smoking:
 
Then there is the whole issue on whether you actually own anything that is being pushed nowadays.... If you buy a truck, do you have the right to jack it up, put big tires on it, change the engine, switch out the axles, put a cool paint job on it calling it Big Foot?..... the manufacturer might have issue with that as it's still classified as there brand of truck.....when you pay high prices for seeds, do you actually own them or are you beholding to the breeder to follow their guidelines of having them?.....IE: these are for novelty and or genetic preservation only....do not grow..... Then again, how did the breeder get seeds, certainly didn't spring from Mom's womb with killer fire in their hands.....do those seeds belong to the people further up the line?.....when others get something I've grown, the package always has whatever info I know...breeder, strain etc...same will be for seeds if this little project works out (local only, passed out, not sold)..the breeder and strain names will be included.....it all boils down to your own personal code of ethics.....bad people get called out eventually..
 
Lots of opinions on this one. IMO if the intent is to sell seeds, use of someone else's genetics should be with the breeder's permission. If just for personal use, make seeds however much you like. As for gifting seeds, that might be considered more of a grey area because you are supplying someone for free with genetics that a breeder produced, thereby potentially depriving the breeder of income.

One aspect of this topic that seems to sometimes be missed is that high quality genetics are a hell of a lot of work. Serious pheno hunts involve dozens if not hundreds of plants, and large numbers of plants need to be taken all the way to harvest to determine yield characteristics. Just crossing a couple strains to make some F1's is not serious breeding, and does not IMO justify renaming the crossed strain and selling the seeds.

Bottom line is that you get to make your choice, and feel good about the choice, or not.
:biggrin:
 
Last edited:
overall it feels to me like the snake is eating his own tail when it comes to intellectual property. i think we'll settle on continued branding/trade dress protections, but the idea of "owning" an idea by being "first" has been cracking for a few generations. the way it's showing in food and medicine is scarrrrry.

should a "method" be protected? a "genetic code"? a "recipe"? IMO all that is old world BS and should not be protected.
 
One aspect of this topic that seems to sometimes be missed is that high quality genetics are a hell of a lot of work. Serious pheno hunts involve dozens if not hundreds of plants, and large numbers of plants need to be taken all the way to harvest to determine yield characteristics. Just crossing a couple strains to make some F1's is not serious breeding, and does not IMO justify renaming the crossed strain and selling the seeds.
This this this. Getting caught up in whether anybody can really "own" a plant is missing the point. Breeders own the work that they've put into lines -- if somebody has been growing out populations, doing selections, etc. for years to shape the genetics, those plants literally would not exist otherwise.
 
Yes, then sell those seeds for a price to cover the cost of the work, and let it be. That's my stance on that.

However, i did promise a breeder that i would not share his work, and even tho he's gone missing for years, the business has gone out of seed sales, and it's a rare one, i promised and a promise is a promise, so no share, no sell. But, lemme tell ya, it's like i have a demon on one shoulder and an angel on the other...demon is saying 'go ahead, the guy may even have gone the way of bad covid or died of old age' (etc....demon is persistent), but the angel keeps saying 'a promise is a promise'.
 
Back
Top