10 comments

  • tptacek an hour ago

    These stories have all basically been debunked. Monsanto did sue farmers. But they did so in cases where they had evidence that those farmers were not only planting IP-encumbered seeds, but also spraying them with Roundup. You can't do that accidentally: if your seeds aren't genetically modified, Roundup kills your crop.

    • qmr 3 minutes ago

      "IP-encumbered seeds" is a wild phrase.

    • free_bip 36 minutes ago

      The entire concept of IP-encumbered seeds is cruel and dangerous.

      • tptacek 24 minutes ago

        Why, because without IP encumbrance farmers would be developing their own glyphosate-resistant shikimic acid pathway enzymes?

  • KennyBlanken an hour ago

    I can't wait for all the usual Monsanto fanboys to start popping up with comments that show how wildly ignorant they are, with comments like "we need this tech to feed everyone!"

    1)Hunger is entirely artificial and is a problem of US farm bill policy and trade policy (not to mention using food to produce fuel that provides less energy than the energy required to grow it.) We pay farmers to grow and then till the food into the ground. Or to ship it to a warehouse where it rots. Massive amounts of food are thrown away by supermarkets. The list goes on.

    2)European farmers, who cannot use Roundup or a large swath of other pesticides and herbicides, *have greater per-acre productivity.

  • SlightlyLeftPad 2 hours ago

    Where does Monsanto stand now? It’s been many years since HackerNews was AstroTurfed by them.