In fact, the original Terminator may be a dead letter because enhanced Terminator seeds are already in the laboratory. The organization's new report provides details and analysis on over two dozen such patents recently obtained by 12 institutions. If commercialization of such seeds proceeds, farmers worldwide will be tangled in an expensive web of chemicals, intellectual property, and disabled germplasm. The complete removal of farmers from the age-old process of plant breeding through sterilized seed could also signify a disastrous narrowing of the genepool on which everyone depends for food security. Others take us beyond crop plants to the use of Terminator-style tactics on insects and even possibly mammals.
Some patents aim to switch the plant's germination on or off.
Yet AstraZeneca has been telling governments, scientists, and the press that despite their continuing pursuit of its patents around the world, they won't stop farmers from saving seed. Newly discovered patent claims explain the confusing AstraZeneca position. Without specific patented chemicals, the plant doesn't grow. AstraZeneca says it will patent the technology in 77 countries. As the seed oligopoly strengthens, companies will have less and less incentive to invest in plant breeding research, after all they'll already have the farmers in a position of utter dependency.