ABSTRACT
In documenting the extent of conversion of foodstuffs to genetically engineered varieties, we have been struck by the arbitrary nature of the choices of genes and products corporations have brought to market. In virtually all instances, short-range economic considerations have driven the selection of genetic products rather than choices based on long-term objectives or public benefits. Instead, we have found companies favoring transgenic manipulations to enhance the value of their own patents, notably those on bromoxynil or glyphosate (Buctril® and Roundup®). As we have seen, companies such as DuPont and Monsanto selectively concentrate on moving into seeds those genes that confer resistance to their own herbicides. Given the amount of research into congeners of these herbicides, it is highly likely such companies would have found new varieties of these herbicides with better activity/safety ratios than glufosinate, bromoxynil, or even glyphosate. But by transferring genes for selected herbicide tolerance into food crop plants, such companies have committed a whole industry to their original products, and walled off new discoveries from the marketplace.
