Monsanto pulls Canada wheat plans

Roundup Ready wheat development discontinued in the face of Wheat Board opposition

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

Monsanto announced Monday (May 10) that it is discontinuing development of Roundup Ready wheat, its genetically modified (GM) herbicide-resistant wheat. Instead of going forward with the commercialization of the wheat strains, developed with the help of the federal government's Agriculture Canada, Monsanto said it would monitor the progress other biotech companies make in developing traits that would make GM wheat more commercially viable.

“We'll be looking for progress in disease-resistant traits, stress tolerance traits—the list goes on and on,” Monsanto Canada spokesperson Trish Jordon told The Scientist. Jordon said it might take between 4 and 8 years before research yields results that would warrant another look at GM wheat. “Until there is a first trait on the market, we won't initiate work on a second trait. Maybe somebody else will be treated differently than we were treated as a company,” she said.

Monsanto was not treated gently, as various activist ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Ed Ungar

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Discover a serum-free way to produce dendritic cells and macrophages for cell therapy applications.

Optimizing In Vitro Production of Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells and Macrophages

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with Lipid Nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo