Monsanto and other biotech companies claim that they allow independent researchers and universities to publish studies concerning the yield and effectiveness of their products, even if the company does not agree with the researchers conclusions. Is there an example of an Academic Research Licensed study that was approved for publishing by a biotech company but conflicts with that companys view of their own product?

Expert response from Chelsey Robinson

Former Global Preparedness Content Manager, Monsanto Company

Monday, 23/02/2015 16:11

Each year, Monsanto provides Academic Research Licenses (ARL) to more than 90 academic institutions in the United States alone. The research associated with these ARLs is not typically funded and does not require our approval for the researcher to publish their work. As a result, our products have been mentioned in hundreds of extension and peer-reviewed publications through the years without our monitoring. And, due to the sheer volume of these ARLs, it is neither practical nor possible for us to monitor each study and its publication.

As a result, there are likely several studies that conflict with our view of our products.  One notable example is research published by Dr. Aaron Gassmann from Iowa State University on corn rootworm resistance to one of our Bt corn traits. We met with Dr. Gassmann to understand what he was seeing in the lab and we compared it to what farmers were seeing in the field.  Based on those discussions, we expanded our program to increase farmer adoption of best management practices that could minimize the potential for corn rootworm resistance in the field. 

We believe that ARLs are key to working towards economical, practical and sustainable solutions for farmers. Dr. Gassmann continues to utilize an ARL from Monsanto and continues to publish work on our products.