Monsanto: Products and Projects

[5]

Herbicide tolerant crops Monsanto’s RoundUp Ready (herbicide tolerant) crops are the most widely used GM crops in the world. RoundUp Ready crops include maize, soya, canola (oil seed rape), cotton and sugar beet. Pipeline RoundUp Ready food crops include rice, wheat and potatoes. Beyond food crops, Monsanto has forged alliances with forestry companies to develop GM RoundUp Ready (herbicide-tolerant) trees.

Bromoxynil tolerant cotton has been marketed by Monsanto’s Calgene subsidiary. Another Monsanto subsidiary DeKalb have marketed a Phosphinothricin (glufosinate ammonium) herbicide tolerant maize.

Insect Resistant Crops Monsanto have engineered a range of insect resistant crops. These crops include Bollgard Cotton, Bollgard with Roundup Ready Cotton, Ingard Cotton, NewLeaf Potatoes and YieldGard Insect Protected Corn. Calgene have marketed a GM cotton with both Bt insect resistance and Bromoxynil herbicide resistance. DeKalb have marketed a Bt insect resistant maize.

Pipeline Monsanto insect resistant crops include rootworm-protected maize, insect-protected tomatoes, and boll weevil-protected cotton. There will also be a second generation of Bollgard insect protected cotton where the mode of action of these cotton plants will be different than that currently used (i.e. not using the Bt. toxin).

Other GM Crops Monsanto have produced a tomato with altered ripening characteristics . A similar product, the FlavrSavr tomato, has also been marketed by Monsanto’s Calgene subsidiary. Calgene have also produced an oil-seed rape with altered fatty acid properties. A further Monsanto subsidiary, Asgrow, have marketed a multi-virus resistant squash.

Pipeline Monsanto disease resistant crops include maize resistant to fungal and viral diseases, potatoes resistant to fungal diseases, wheat resistant to fungal and viral diseases and virus protected tomatoes

Monsanto are also developing a range of crops with altered nutrient value including altering the oil composition of oilseed rape and soybeans, altering soybean protein for use as meat substitutes, altering potatoes to reduced discolouration from bruising for commercial storage and also for lower moisture content thus absorbing less oil during cooking

UK GM Crop Trails Monsanto GM crops currently under going field trials in the UK include RoundUp Ready oilseed rape and sugar/fodder beet [6].

Bovine Growth Hormone Monsanto also market Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH or BST) called Posilac. Posilac is a genetically engineered growth hormone injected into cows to increase their milk production

Agricultural Chemicals Monsanto also markets a number of agricultural chemicals. The best known of these products is RoundUp, a glyphosate based broad spectrum herbicide.

Functional Foods Monsanto is likely to be one of the key players in the introduction of the second generation of GM crops, so called functional foods, engineered to have beneficial output traits. [7]

References

[5] (unless otherwise stated information in this section is sourced from ‘Feeding the Hungry Transnationals’ and the Genewatch online database www.genewatch.org, itself based on information from OECD database of commercialised GM crops available on line at www.olis.oecd.org/bioprod.nsf. and Monsanto annual reports available online at http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/NYS/MON/reports/Monsanto_2000_Report.pdf [6] For further details of Monsanto UK crop trials go to www.gm-info.org.uk and www.genewatch.org/UKtrials.htm. For full details of GM crops developed by Monsanto go to www.genewatch.org/Genesrch/Default.htm and type ‘Monsanto’ into the company/subsidiary search box. [7] www.gm-info.org.uk/gm-info/briefings/funcfoods.html

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