A young molecular biologist at UC Davis has set forth a modest proposal to do what world leaders have been unable to do so far find a way to compensate developing nations for valuable genes obtained from their native plants and animals. Pamela Ronald, an assistant professor of plant pathology, initiated a fund that pools university and industry resources to provide graduate fellowships to countries from which genetic material was initially gathered. In 1995, using plants native to West Africa, Ronald isolated the first cloned gene known to convey disease-resistance to rice. Suddenly, she found herself wrestling with the ethics of genetic property rights. "Although a lot of the genes used in biotechnology research come from the developing world, there hasn't been a convenient and fair method for rerouting the money back to the Third World," says Ronald. In cooperation with a Stanford University law professor, she devised a proposal for a "Genetic Resources Recognition Fund" at UC Davis. It is the first known attempt by a major research university to formally redress perceived inequities related to genetic material property rights. The fund is supported by industry partners who have signed licensing agreements with the university to use Ronald's patented gene and from a commitment of approximately $50,000 in future patent royalties from UC Davis.