>Yes, the story is real but that description is a gross oversimplification.
Thank you Mike, for a clear and lucid analysis of the trial and the
background! This is the sort of informational discussion that I hope to
hear on this List.
Again, I'm not interested in defending Monsanto or any other company in any
way--I simply want to know the facts.
Following on Mike's clarification, one way for a company to prevent
unauthorized use of seed, is to produce either hybrids that don't breed
true, or to develop a plant that produces only sterile seed. That would
end the need for nasty litigation.
From Wikipedia:
"Genetic use restriction technology (GURT), colloquially known
as terminator technology, is the name given to proposed methods for
restricting the use ofgenetically modified plants by causing second
generation seeds to be sterile. The technology was developed under a
cooperative research and development agreement between the Agricultural
Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture and Delta
and Pine Land company in the 1990s, but it is not yet commercially
available.[1] Because some stakeholders expressed concerns that this
technology might lead to dependence for poor smallholder farmers,Monsanto
Company, an agricultural products company and the world's biggest seed
supplier, pledged not to commercialize the technology in 1999.[2] However,
customers who buy seeds from Monsanto Company must sign a Monsanto
Technology/Stewardship Agreement. "The agreement specifically states that
the grower will not save or sell the seeds from their harvest for further
planting, breeding or cultivation".[3] This legal agreement preempts the
need for a "terminator gene". Late in 2006, Monsanto acquired Delta and
Pine Land company, along with its greenhouse tests of Terminator seeds and
rights to its Canadian patent on Terminator granted on October 11 2005.
D&PL has long vowed to commercialize Terminator, targeting rice, wheat and
soy in particular."
So it appears to me that Monsanto is in a catch-22 position. They could
protect their investment by using GURT, but the public outcry against it
prevents them from doing so!
--
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com
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