In February 2014, the European Patent Office in Munich (EPO) granted a patent to Monsanto on screening and selecting soybean plants adapted to various climate zones (EP2134870). The plants supposedly have higher yields in different environmental conditions. The plants concerned are wild and cultivated species from Asia and Australia. According to the patent, more than 250 plants from “exotic“ species were screened for variations in climate adaption potential and variations in the period of time needed until maturity and harvesting. Monsanto has gained a monopoly with this patent on the future usage of hundreds of natural DNA sequence variations in the conventional breeding of soybeans.
