Author : Feder, Barnaby J.

Summary : Seed sterility could be a very valuable trait for the major biotechnology companies which, through genetic modification, have created plants with valuable traits like resistance to insect pests or ability to withstand spraying with weed killers. If the seeds year after year, rather than simply saving seeds from their crops for replanting the following spring. But critics call the technology a prime example of a drive by giant agribusinesses to make farmers totally dependent on them and the chemicals many of them produce. Some also suggested that pollen from engineered crops could render plants in neighbors field sterile without farmers realizing it. Monsanto and the major biotechnology companies all say that seed sterility has not been the focus of their research despite the patent claims. Most fret privately that the publicity surrounding terminator is a public relations disaster in an industry already under attack on numerous other more serious fronts, like demands for labeling of products containing genetically engineered crops and food products.