TERMINATOR SEED

terminator seed: translation

n.

A sterile seed produced by a genetically modified plant to prevent farmers from reusing the seed for future crops.

"The announcement recently by Monsanto, the giant American chemical company, that it will disavow use of the'terminator' seedsterility technology is a welcome step toward assuaging some of these concerns, particularly in developing countries. Terminator technology prevents plants from producing fertile seeds, forcing farmers to buy more seed from a multinational corporation rather than using seed from the previous year's crop."

— Gordon Conway, "World is better served by the fruits of biotech seeds,"The Houston Chronicle, October 25, 1999

To Wired magazine's Jargon Watcher Gareth Branwyn for permission to use this phrase (which he described as the "agricultural equivalent of copyright protection").

biopiracy

crazy tobacco

farmageddon

Frankenfood

golden rice

heirloom seed

pharma food

pharmer

seed pirate

superweed

transgenic

Plants and Gardening

Genetics