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Terminator seeds — A descriptive term used by some
for seeds that have been genetically engineered to produce a crop whose first
generation produces sterile seeds, thus preventing a second generation from
being grown from seeds saved from the first. This technology (currently 3 to 5
years from commercial application) was developed under a Cooperative
Research and Development Agreement between the
Agricultural Research Service and a private seed company.
Supporters of the technology state that it is a way to build patent protection
directly into high-value, genetically engineered crop varieties and thus recoup
high research investment costs. Opponents are concerned that the technology
could have harmful environmental and public health effects and argue that it
would have an inequitable impact on farmers in developing countries who rely on
saved seed for replanting and for developing locally adapted varieties.
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