Avalanche of Public Opposition to Monsanto's Suicide Seeds.

• Author: Shand, Hope

A newly patented invention for genetic seed sterilization--a technique that renders farm-saved seed sterile--has ignited controversy and debate worldwide on the right of farmers to save seed and the dramatic consolidation of corporate power over plant genetic resources. The owners of the patent refer to it as a "technology protection system," but critics say it's a lethal technology and have dubbed it "the Terminator." The multinational seed industry says that genetic seed sterilization will spur investment in plant breeding worldwide, opponents say it imperils global food security and poses unacceptable risks to the environment.

It could be years before Terminator seeds are commercially available, but the specter of genetic seed sterilization is so serious that the world's largest network of agricultural researchers recently adopted a policy prohibiting the use of the technology in its Third World plant breeding programs. India's agriculture minister says he will ban the import of Terminator seeds because of the potential harm to Indian agriculture. [1] The topic of genetic seed sterilization, and its consequences for farmers and the environment, is on the 1999 agenda of two United Nations agencies. In September 1998 a subsidiary of agrochemical and biotech giant, Monsanto, entered into negotiations with the US Department of Agriculture (co-owner of the patent) for an exclusive license on the Terminator technology. In reaction, thousands of individuals from over 60 countries have bombarded US Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman with letters and e-mail messages of protest, demanding that USDA cease negotiations with Monsanto, and a bandon all patents and research on the Terminator technology.

What is the Terminator Technology?

On March 3, 1998 the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and a Mississippi-based seed company, Delta & Pine Land Co., received US patent no. 5,723,765 on a technique that genetically alters seed so that it will not germinate if replanted the following season. [2] The technology aims to prevent farmers from saving seed from their harvest, thus forcing them to return to the commercial seed market every year.

The Terminator patent covers plants and seeds of all species, including both transgenic (genetically engineered) and conventionally bred seeds. The developers of the new technology say that their technique to prohibit seed saving is still in the product development stage and won't be available commercially until 2004.

How do scientists genetically engineer plants to kill their own seeds? The patented technique involves a cascade of complex interactions involving two bacterial genes and one plant gene. Before sale, seeds are soaked in a common antibiotic, tetracycline, a chemical that activates a molecular switch in one of the bacterial genes. The introduced plant gene isn't activated until after the farmer produces a crop and the seed is almost finished maturing. The gene produces a toxic protein that kills the seed embryo in late stages of development.

Terminator technology differs from hybrid seed technology that was developed earlier in this century. Farmers don't save hybrid seed because the seed does not "breed true"--it won't perform as well when saved and replanted. Whereas hybrid seeds deliver the benefit of hybrid vigor and increased yields, Terminator seeds offer no agronomic benefits to farmers, they are simply designed to insure seed industry profits. Plant breeders have never successfully hybridized many of the world's most important crops--such as wheat, rice, soybeans and cotton. In theory, the Terminator technology gives the seed industry the ability to "genetically neuter" all of the world's crops, creating greater dependency on proprietary seeds and their companion chemicals.

Engineering seed sterility in the world's major food crops is a logical goal for the multinational seed industry because around three-quarters of the world's farmers routinely save seed from their harvest for re-planting the following season. [3] If farmers save commercial seed, the company won't get repeat business, and profits take a nosedive. Without a technology protection system to prevent "unauthorized" seed saving, seed companies argue that they can't earn a fair return on their investment. Melvin J. Oliver, a USDA molecular biologist and the primary inventor of the technology, likens seed saving to theft of intellectual property. "My main interest is the protection of American technology. Our mission is to protect US agriculture, and to make us competitive in the face of foreign competition. Without this, there is no way of protecting the technology [patented seed]," said Oliver. [4]

But seeds aren't just another patented technology; they are the foundation of global food security. Farmers have been saving seed from their harvest for 12,000 years. According to the United Nations, over 1.4 billion people, mainly resource-poor farmers, depend on farm-saved seed and seeds exchanged with their...