Today's Bangor Daily (Bangor, Maine, USA) has an article from the
Washington Post by Rick Weiss concerning a lawsuit in Bruno
Saskatchewan where a farmer is being sued by Monsanto for "seed
piracy". The company claims that the farmer replanted their roundup
resistant canola. The farmer claims that his seed was contaminated
via pollination. The article also mentions the "terminator" gene
which Monsanto is purchasing the patent rights . This technology was
developed in part by the federal government.
Does the terminator gene spread via pollen? Does it prevent the plant
from making pollen? According to the article, the technology is not
expected to be available commercially until 2005 and ensures that the
plant will not make seed.