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Journey into the unknown

Episode 0589 · Jan 26, 1999 · 2h 54m

January 26, 1999: Terminator Seed Technology - Patrick Roy Mooney

Key Moments

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  1. Transcript

    Sterile seeds explained in plain EnglishBell opens with a concise framing of Terminator Seed technology: 1.4 billion farmers worldwide save seed each year, and Monsanto's new technology would make those seeds sterile, replacing voluntary contracts with biological enforcement.

  2. Transcript

    Long-distance suicide sequenceMooney describes a newer generation of the patent in which the seed's suicide sequence can be triggered remotely by spraying herbicides or even fertilizer - a chemical kill switch the companies can activate at will.

  3. Transcript

    Food aid as a delivery vehicleMooney walks Bell through how Terminator-engineered grain shipped as food aid to a country like Iraq could be planted by farmers short of seed - producing a delayed-action crop failure that looks like nothing more than humanitarian assistance.

  4. Transcript

    Tetracycline soaked into the food supplyAn Oklahoma caller raises a question Bell hadn't considered: tetracycline-coated Terminator seed would push antibiotic into the wheat, the soil, and the dairy chain - an antibiotic-overload problem layered on top of the sterility issue.

Art Bell speaks with Patrick Roy Mooney of the Rural Advancement Foundation International about a jointly developed technology between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Delta and Pine Land Company that genetically alters plants so the seeds they produce are sterile. Mooney, who coined the term "Terminator" for this technology, explains how it forces farmers to repurchase seed every season rather than saving harvested seed for replanting.

The discussion reveals that 1.4 billion people worldwide depend on farm-saved seed for survival. Mooney warns that pollen from Terminator crops could spread to neighboring fields, potentially sterilizing crops of farmers who never purchased the engineered seed. A University of Chicago study suggests genetically altered plants are 20 times more likely to outcross with natural varieties, raising the specter of widespread unintended crop failure.

Mooney details how 34 related patents are pending or granted across major agrochemical corporations, with an estimated 80 percent of commercial seed projected to carry Terminator traits by 2010. He urges listeners to write Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman demanding the technology be shelved before it reaches the global marketplace.

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