Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News
  • Published:

Monsanto relaxes restrictions on sharing seeds for research

Nature Biotechnology volume 28, page 996 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

ARS scientists were part of a group of 26 researchers who lodged an anonymous public complaint in February 2009 that charged that seed companies were thwarting public sector research. They said a legal contract called a “stewardship agreement” forbid research from being conducted on the companies' crops and seeds, no matter how they were obtained. The scientists said they felt forced to seek permission from the seed companies before conducting studies, even on crops that had been on the market for years (Nat. Biotechnol. 27, 880–882, 2009). “No truly independent research can be legally conducted on many critical questions involving these crops” because of company-imposed restrictions, the scientists wrote in their public comment.

In response to the complaint and the press reports that followed, seed companies reexamined their research agreements with the public sector. Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences, Basel-based Syngenta and Johnston, Iowa–based Pioneer Hi-Bred have all begun discussions with ARS over new umbrella agreements, according to the companies. These industry players, along with Monsanto, have also been working with universities on similar licenses.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nashville, Tennessee

    Emily Waltz

Authors
  1. Emily Waltz
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Waltz, E. Monsanto relaxes restrictions on sharing seeds for research. Nat Biotechnol 28, 996 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1010-996c

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1010-996c

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research