The Terminator is back.
This terminator has nothing to do with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Instead, it refers to a patented agricultural technology that has been characterized — and vilified — by many consumer and agricultural rights activists as the “terminator gene.” By using this technology, seed producers can manipulate a plant so that it only produces sterile seed. That way, a farmer would have to buy new seed every year, rather than holding back part of the crop to plant the following year. Although Monsanto, previously its biggest champion, has backed off from its use, the owner of the patent for the gene now says that it will go ahead with commercialization plans.
