12-23-2016, 04:51 PM
quote:Actually you can. Most non-GMO hybrid corn is patented, as are many other crop varieties. Plants patented under that system have an exemption that allows the seed to be saved and planted on your own farm, but not collected and sold (hybrid corn is usually sterile anyway).
Originally posted by ironyak
(And I'll just ignore the whole selective breeding is the same as genetic engineering part of the NBC article, becuase yeah, you can't patent a selectively bred organism)
http://cls.casa.colostate.edu/transgenic...atent.html
Regarding ethylene - you want to stop pineapples from flowering, because pollinated flowers produce seeds which are undesirable (the fruits grow up and ripen regardless). That's why it's forbidden to bring hummingbirds into Hawaii at all (except for males destined for zoos), because they're the pollinators. This variety would be a little redundant here, but on the mainland where there are wild hummingbirds, it would give better fruit.