Monsanto Says Rogue Wheat in Oregon May Be Sabotage

Rather amusing considering Monsanto has sued hundreds of small farmers for unwittingly harvesting GMO crops they never intentionally planted. 

Monsanto the world’s largest seed company, said experimental wheat engineered to survive Roundup weedkiller may have gotten into an Oregon field through an “accidental or purposeful” act.

Monsanto and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are investigating how genetically modified wheat that hasn’t been approved for commercial planting was found growing on an Oregon farm eight years after nationwide field tests ended.

Monsanto’s genetic analyses found the variety hasn’t contaminated the types of seed planted on the Oregon farm or the wheat seed typically grown in Oregon and Washington state, Chief Technology Officer Robb Fraley said today on a call with reporters.

The unapproved wheat was found growing on less than 1 percent of the farmer’s 125-acre (51-hectare) field, Fraley said.

“It seems likely to be a random, isolated occurrence more consistent with the accidental or purposeful mixing of a small amount of seed during the planting, harvesting or during the fallow cycle in an individual field,” Fraley said on the call.

Asked whether the St. Louis-based company is suggesting the incident could be an act of sabotage, Fraley said, “That is certainly one of the options we are looking at.”

Fraley said he doesn’t mean to suggest the farmer who made the discovery is responsible. Read more >>

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Signal Support for Monsanto on Patents

U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled support for Monsanto Co. in a clash with a farmer who used harvested soybeans to plant a new crop of beans, hinting at a victory for makers of vaccines, software and genetically modified products.

Hearing arguments today in Washington, a majority of the nine justices suggested that Monsanto has broad rights to control the use of seeds that contain its patented technology. The genetically modified seeds are used to grow more than 90 percent of the nation’s soybeans.

“Why in the world would anybody spend any money to try to improve the seed if as soon as they sold the first one anybody could grow more and have as many of those seeds as they want?” Chief Justice John Roberts said.

He and other justices signaled that they view seeds harvested from patented crops as new products with fresh patent protections. A victory for Monsanto would potentially let patent holders restrict use of self-replicating products beyond the first generation, benefiting producers of live vaccines, genetically modified salmon, and bacteria strains used in medical research. Read more >>

Russia suspends import and use of American GM corn after study revealed cancer risk

Russia has suspended the import and use of an American GM corn following a study suggesting a link to breast cancer and organ damage. Separately, the European Food Safety Authority(EFSA), has ordered its own review in to the research, which was conducted at a French university. The decision by Russia could be followed by other nations in what would be a severe blow to the take-up of the controversial technology.

Historically, biotech companies have proved the safety of GM crops based on trials involving feeding rats for a period of 90 days. However, experts at the University of Caen conducted an experiment running for the full lives of rats - two years. The findings, which were peer reviewed by independent experts before being published in a respected scientific journal, found raised levels of breast cancer, liver and kidney damage.


The same trials also found evidence that consumption of minuscule amounts of a commonly used weedkiller, Roundup, was associated with a raised risk of cancer. Both the GM corn, which carries the name NK603, and Roundup are the creation of US biotech company Monsanto. The decision by the Russians to suspend authorisation for the American GM corn threatens to trigger a transatlantic commercial and diplomatic row. Read more >>