ABSTRACT
Most of these utility patents protect one of two broad categories of inventions. The first are those that provide crops with resistance to herbicides that the crops did not naturally possess. This allows use of herbicides to kill weeds without damaging the crops. The second type of invention incorporates a gene or genes that produce a compound or compounds with pesticidal properties that protect the crop from certain pests. The second type of GMO is regulated under federal pesticide law that is discussed in Chapter 19. The first type of GMO does not require regulation as a pesticide. Both types of GMOs are the subject of other types of regulation that are discussed in this chapter. There are two other types of genetic engineering that affect agriculture but which are not used directly in agriculture. The first is the use of GE organisms to produce pharmaceuticals for livestock. The second are GE organisms used in fermentation and other processes to process agricultural products for food or feed.
