In 1981, Monsanto, a chemical company best known for it’s 'Round Up' brand of herbicide, started its own biotech unit. Monsanto was one of the first biotechnology companies to explore the potential of genetic engineering in agriculture.

A few years later, separate teams simultaneously created the first genetically modified plants – a petunia and a tobacco plant. Both were engineered to be resistant to the antibiotic kanamycin.
The industry was soon booming, with many start-up companies hoping to cash in on the gold rush. After a decade of steady progress in research into GM farming, the first commercially available GM food appeared on the market in 1994. The future seemed bright and highly lucrative for companies producing GM seed.

Biotech industries are not making the profits that they have expected to make this is because they haven’t captured the key market which is Europe. This has been the thorn in the side of all genetically modified seed companies. On the other hand Americans are on their way to accepting GM crops. Europe on the other hand is hostile as ever to the idea of genetically modified food. Analyst now warn that there could be a possible trade war between the US and Europe over the labeling of GM food.

On the forefront of these big companies which produce GM seed is world hunger. But this is kept on hold as the regulatory clearance to plant GM crops is very high, biotech companies are concentrating on areas likely to deliver high financial returns.

The four big producers of GM seeds – Aventis, Monsanto, Syngenta and Du Pont – have invested tremendous amounts of money into researching and developing new products, so they have to recoup this expenditure. They ensure royalties by patenting their discoveries.

One of the most important ways that these big companies make their money is by patenting their product. A patent is a license given to an inventor by a government. In the United States patents have been there for years. The inventor can be an individual or a corporation and when the patent is issued then it becomes the property of the inventor. However patents can be sold or rented out.

Many people oppose the idea of patenting genes, either for ethical reasons or because it is regarded as unfair to scientists who wish to study them.

In most countries only the gene is patented but in the United States the companies are able to patent the entire plant which makes it difficult for other farmers who get caught in cross pollination of seeds between GM crops and Non GM crops. Big Companies recently have been on the legal offensive with farmers, that they claim that are using GM seeds illegally because they are using the seed which has been cross pollinated because of natural environmental conditions. This is another reason why many farmers are objecting to the genes being patented in the United States.

Taking the scientists into account these big companies believe that as long as the scientist does not try to make commercial use of the patented gene, they are free to study it. But this means that a company can plough investments into researching a gene, but another company can reap all the benefits when a use for it is found.

On the forefront of the GM battle, one of the major points that are debated is the long term hazards on the environment which are caused by GM crops. There is no conclusive evidence whether the GM crops or hazardous or whether they improve the environment.