There is no longer a debate about who was the first to invent glyphosate-tolerant cotton. On Tuesday, Mycogen Corporation, an affiliate of Dow AgroSciences LLC, was granted U.S. patent rights to glyphosate resistance in cotton.
"The issuance of this significant patent demonstrates that Dow was the first to invent glyphosate-tolerant cotton," says Pete Siggelko, Dow AgroSciences vice president for Plant Genetics and Biotechnology.
The recently granted patent application was originally filed with the U.S. Patent Office in 1987. The patent will be in effect until 2021.
Last year Dow had four patents approved relating to transgenic cotton. "These recently issued patents demonstrate our significant long-standing commitment to the cotton market and our desire to create value for growers by developing innovative technology," Siggelko says, "and we now look forward to working with those companies interested in commercializing glyphosate-resistant cotton technology."
According to Cropnosis, an independent market research and consulting firm, in the year 2002, 71% of U.S. cotton acres planted (about 10 million acres) were glyphosate-resistant.
Both Mycogen and Dow AgroSciences are wholly-owned subsidiaries of The Dow Chemical Company.