Sowing the Seeds of Reason in the Field of the Terminator Debate

Abstract

In an effort to restrict seed piracy in the global agricultural market, Monsanto intends to implement some form of genetic use restriction technology (GURT). Regarding such intentions, many activist groups adamantly contend that Monsanto will be acting immorally if GURTs, specifically Terminator Technology (TT), are implemented in the global agricultural market. They argue that the potential implementation of TT is immoral because it threatens to infringe upon the rights of resource-poor farmers (mainly in developing countries) by denying them the ability to save the seed derived from their harvests. While there may be ways that the implementation of TT can be construed as wrong, I narrowly argue that Monsanto will not be wrongfully infringing upon the basic rights of resource-poor farmers if it actually implements TT. Moreover, as long as Monsanto takes the appropriate measures to minimize the possible negative effects that TT may have on resource-poor farmers, and allows these farmers to make an autonomous choice to use seed that contains this technology, Monsanto’s possible implementation of TT cannot be accurately considered to instantiate an immoral violation of basic rights.