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Can you patent a technique for taking plant cuttings? M-real of Finland thinks so. It is claiming an international patent on the “discovery” that root cuttings of the aspen tree Populus tremula, which is used for paper production, can be prepared from “pieces that are mechanically isolated from the root system of the mother plant” (W0 02/03776). The patent describes how to make clones by leaving small trees in low light, cutting off all shoots and taking root cuttings. These are dosed with growth hormone, and left on paper for a couple of weeks. Some develop visible lumps of callus and these are selected and grown into plants.