Monsanto Says Terminator Gene Does Not Exist

Multinational life science company Monsanto has said the dreaded "terminator gene", believed to make grains sterile rendering them unfit for use as seed, does not exist as yet.

Of late fears have been expressed in several circles regarding the development of crop varieties having the terminator gene so that the farmers will not be able to re-use the produce as seed and will have to buy them from the producing company every season.

Agriculture scientists have also expressed misgivings about the induction of this technology into India by multinational corporations to capture the country's massive seed market. They have expressed the fear that if this gene gets into non-target crops it could play havoc with the country's agriculture.

 

Environmental activists have threatened to launch an agitation against such technologies, demanding that adequate provisions should be made in the proposed bio-diversity law to safeguard the country's interests.

The controversy over this issue arose after the US department of agriculture (USDA) and a multinational company, Delta and Pine Land, applied for a "prophetic patent" for the terminator gene. Some reports suggested the involvement of Monsanto in this technology but the company has categorically denied involvement. Delta and Pine Land is one of Monsanto's seed company partners.

Monsanto's national marketing manager Mark W Wells told the Business Standard that the gene protection technology through the use of terminator gene was only in its conceptual stage at present and did not actually exist. "It would be premature to comment on the Delta and Pine Land technology before it has been thoroughly tested," he maintained.

Referring to the USDA's application for a prophetic patent, Wells said it was meant as a conceptual patent. The idea was to develop a process that would provide gene protection to plants such as tobacco.

"However, it is still very much theoretical and not yet proven," he said.

Categorically stating that Monsanto would not introduce any product in the Indian market that could adversely affect the interests of the farmers or the Indian government, Wells said fears about this technology were unfounded. He also ruled out the possibility of cross-pollination leading to seed sterility in other crops. Such issues could actually be examined if and when the gene protection technology of this nature becomes available, he said.

However, environmental activist Vandana Shiva yesterday said an international campaign had been launched against Monsanto's attempts to "peddle in death sciences instead of life sciences". Describing Monsanto as a liar, she said the company was trying to buy other firms in different parts of the world to establish its monopoly over the food chain. "They have chosen India as the land from where they will bully the world," she said, adding that it had already bought a major Indian seed company, Nath Seeds.

Shiva's non-government organisation, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, has brought out a 30-page booklet criticising Monsanto's activities in India and abroad.

Shiva also said a stir would be initiated against the government's move to import genetically engineered soybean. "This amounts to dumping of highly subsidised soybean for which there are no takers in other countries because of possible health hazards," she said. "It will totally wipe out oilseed cultivation in India," she warned.