Well okay, I don't want to sound like a greenpeace activist, nor a conspiration theorist, but guys, there's something wrong.
I'm trying to imagine, what and why I would be doing given I were a man of great power. So first off, what does monsanto do exactly? They have genetically modified some plants to be more nutritive, and less sensible to the environment so to bring crops even in more hostile circumstances. Nothing wrong so far. Well none I wish to mention at this point anyway.Now if I were researching and modifying genes of plants we eat, I would want a safe switch. I mean, what if by accident we create something that is a half success, like a type of corn, that is more resistant, but is ultimately poisonous. I wouldn't want it to be able to spread now, would I? So what kind of safety would I use? Given I already have laboratories and the best minds in the field of genetics working for me, my first choice would be an artificial virus. We can make viruses that specifically target certain lifeforms, we could even produce viruses that target only a single individual.
So as boss, I would go over to one of my top researchers and say "Listen John, As far as I can see, you're the best man I have on the team for this problem. You know we're making the world a better place, but this has high risks. I want zero casualties if anything goes wrong, so we need a solution to pull the plug on our crops quickly, if we see something's not going the right way. Can I trust you with this high priority problem?"
Of course John is thrilled to be one of the most important members on the team, and accepts the challenge and does his best ultimately succeeding in his goal. He gets a great congratulation, a great bonus, even an employee of the year award. The project being completed all weight being lifted off his shoulder, the "cure" gets locked away in a cooled safe.
I think you know where this is going, but don't think too ahead.
The new corn is ready, it really is great. Huge grains grow on it, it's just wonderful to see technology benefiting nature and man kind. Farmers are amazed and want to get their hands on the seeds as soon as possible, because they know, with this advance their older crops would be rendered worthless.
Soon the majority of the crops are the genetically modified corn we've just seen produced. With a trademark on them, no one is allowed to grow them without benefiting those who made it. Seems fair, they have put effort in to making all this possible.
But concern rises. There are a lot of people thinking we're playing God by altering nature. So why should we be the bad guys? Let's collect all kinds of seeds, so they will be at hand in a time of need. Now people are a bit more relaxed seeing we are concerned with biodiversity.
After some time, almost everyone is happy with the crops, People are willing to pay the small fee we charge them for our efforts. Everything is good, we're getting richer by the minute.
Now for the tricky part. There will be a time, when our share will somehow be cut. By federal law, or by a rise of resistance from the population, to pay for something that just grows on their land without us having anything to do with it in the last decade or so. War brakes out or there's just some kind of failure and somehow Johns "cure" gets out in the world. Within 2 years all GM crops die. Just like that. Hunger strikes out in the world, but luckily we're the good guys. In the last 10 years we've already researched the second or even the third generation of corn, that is unaffected by the virus that killed all our previous creations. But we're not going to put it on market yet.
First we're going to sell people the old bio-diverse seed back that they provided us in the first place. With global hunger partially solved once again, we will have a press conference that we're working once again on a new plant even better, even more resistant than the previous one.
A year passes, we release our second generation seeds on the market, and everybody is full of joy once again, that all the crops are growing once again as they should.
I wonder how many times they will be able to pull this off...
