Frankenwheat on the loose: Hide your children's cereal boxes

Did Monsanto Just Ruin the Economy?

By Rich Duprey | Motley Fool

They said it couldn't happen. It was all supposed to be locked up tight and under control. Yet, despite all the assurances to the contrary, unapproved genetically modified wheat has been found in an Oregon wheat field, and the implications of its discovery are far-reaching and potentially devastating. Monsanto (NYSE: MON ) may have just single-handedly wrecked the wheat industry and the economy.

Corn, soy beans, alfalfa, sugar beets. All these crops have been genetically modified by Monsanto and its GM brethren to the point where there are virtually no alternatives for farmers. GM corn accounts for 86% of the country's supply. More than 90% of the soy beans have been altered. Sugar beets are half the country's sugar supply, and 95% of those seeds are from Monsanto.

All told, Monsanto, DuPont (NYSE: DD ), and Syngenta (NYSE: SYT ) control 53% of the world's seed production, yet their control of our food supply is almost all-encompassing, because they cross-license their technology between themselves and with other companies.

Monsanto recently agreed to share its technology with Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW ) and Bayer (and vice versa), while DuPont and Bayer similarly expanded their collaboration. Syngenta is cross-pollinating Dow's AgroSciences division with its GM technology.

Yet, the one crop that has been saved from being altered up until now has been wheat.

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