Monsanto

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==Terminator technology==
 
==Terminator technology==
  
Monsanto has developed something called terminator technology - a process which makes the second generation seed of GM crops sterile. This means that GM traits cannot spread in the environment, but also that seed from the harvest cannot be saved for the next year. Although the technology was developed specifically to address the fears of opponents, specifically the fear that herbicide resistance traits could spread to weeds, they were not satisfied and started attacking the seed saving problem, claiming it will create a dependence on seed companies to supply new seed every year. Unfortunately, the opponents were not aware of the fact that in modern agriculture, saving seed is basically a very bad idea and nobody does it. Plants grown from traditional hybrid seed, used since 1920s, do not produce true copies in the second generation and have to be bought anew each year - otherwise there is a sharp reduction in yield.<ref>http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/vegetables/seed.html</ref> There were also some nonsensical arguments that this can make other crops sterile. Of course, sterility by definition cannot be hereditary.
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Monsanto has developed something called terminator technology - a process which makes the second generation seed of GM crops sterile. This means that GM traits cannot spread in the environment, but also that seed from the harvest cannot be saved for the next year. Although the technology was developed specifically to address the fears of opponents, specifically the fear that herbicide resistance traits could spread to weeds, they were not satisfied and started attacking the seed saving problem, claiming it will create a dependence on seed companies to supply new seed every year. Unfortunately, the opponents were not aware of the fact that in modern agriculture, saving seed is basically a very bad idea and nobody does it. Plants grown from traditional hybrid seed, used since 1920s, do not produce true copies in the second generation and have to be bought anew each year - otherwise there is a sharp reduction in yield.<ref>[http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/vegetables/seed.html Hybrid varieties and saving seed]</ref> There were also some nonsensical arguments that this can make other crops sterile. Of course, sterility by definition cannot be hereditary.
  
 
In the end, the terminator technology was not commercialized.
 
In the end, the terminator technology was not commercialized.

Revision as of 01:23, 7 March 2011

The Monsanto Company is a multinational biotechnology corporation. It is the inventor and primary producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed as Roundup, and the world's leading producer of genetically engineered seeds (90% of the market). Due to its high-profile activity, it is a favorite scapegoat of the environmental groups, which blame it for any number of ills. While the company is certainly not an angel, its portrayal by the anti-GMO activists as the incarnation of Satan is clearly undeserved.

Contents

Terminator technology

Monsanto has developed something called terminator technology - a process which makes the second generation seed of GM crops sterile. This means that GM traits cannot spread in the environment, but also that seed from the harvest cannot be saved for the next year. Although the technology was developed specifically to address the fears of opponents, specifically the fear that herbicide resistance traits could spread to weeds, they were not satisfied and started attacking the seed saving problem, claiming it will create a dependence on seed companies to supply new seed every year. Unfortunately, the opponents were not aware of the fact that in modern agriculture, saving seed is basically a very bad idea and nobody does it. Plants grown from traditional hybrid seed, used since 1920s, do not produce true copies in the second generation and have to be bought anew each year - otherwise there is a sharp reduction in yield.[1] There were also some nonsensical arguments that this can make other crops sterile. Of course, sterility by definition cannot be hereditary.

In the end, the terminator technology was not commercialized.

Aggressive protection of intellectual property

Monsanto is eager to assert the patents on its crops. Farmers who collect and save seeds to use for the following year's crop have been sued.[2] Monsanto usually wins those cases, because before being supplied with seed the farmer has to sign a contract that explicitly forbids saving seed. Therefore, saving seed is a clear breach of contract.[3]

Another example is suing of farmers who grew non-GM cotton near GM fields, then consciously selected for the GM traits.

Waste dumping

The company has also been involved in environmental damage in Anniston, Alabama. A Monsanto factory dumped mercury and polychlorinated biphenyl waste into local creeks for over forty years, including areas used in the local water supply. The company has also buried waste in the surrounding area. In 2003, Monsanto paid $700 million to settle claims by Anniston residents of contamination.

In a similar case, Monsanto was found to be have been illegally dumping toxic waste in UK landfill sites between 1965 and 1972, causing widespread pollution of the groundwater and atmosphere.

Footnotes

  1. Hybrid varieties and saving seed
  2. http://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=30496
  3. CAFC opinion - Monsanto Company v. Kem L. Ralph
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