Pioneer Hi-Bred International announced that it’s on track to commercialize by 2009 a biotech soybean product that will compete with the Roundup Ready trait sold by Monsanto, according to this St. Louis Post-Dispatch article appearing on Checkbiotech. The company is seeking permission to sell soybean seeds genetically modified to tolerate glyphosate herbicide, which Monsanto sells... »

Monsanto is hosting a groundbreaking Monday for its $2 million soybean breeding and research center in Harrisburg, S.D, according to this article in the St. Louis Business Journal. The company announced plans for the 17,500-square-foot facility in early October, according to the article. The new building will be constructed adjacent to Monsanto’s existing Harrisburg corn... »

Syngenta bets that if it builds the right genetically modified seeds, profits will come — and some investors like its chances, says the writer of this WSJ article (sub. reqd.). It offers a cheaper way into the booming $56 billion agricultural-chemical industry than its biggest U.S. rival, Monsanto Co. Corn prices have risen 66 percent... »

More than 90 percent of global biotech acreage is planted with Monsanto seed, according to this Financial Times report that appears on MSNBC. Other interesting bits from the article: The global market for GM seeds and traits is growing at 10 percent a year. This market, which is primarily made up of soybean, cotton, canola (oilseed rape)... »

A San Diego company will on Thursday unveil a technology that they say can deliver the benefits of genetic modification without inserting foreign genes into a crop in move that could transform the multibillion dollar agricultural biotech market, according to this Financial Times article on MSNBC.com. Grab from the article: Cibus, which has been funded quietly... »