Well, they're doing a poor job of it, the patent on the GMO part of Roundup Ready soybeans has expired or will expire this year in the US. Others will obviousl

Well, they're doing a poor job of it, the patent on the GMO part of Roundup Ready soybeans has expired or will expire this year in the US. Others will obviously follow. Note that there's a separate patent system for old fashioned plant breeding with a longer 25 year term that will cover a variety of these germ lines if you copy the relevant traits vs. just the Roundup hack: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_breeders%27_rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_breeders%27_rights And I submit you are saying we shouldn't benefit from these inventions. Since you differ, what is the regime you envision in which they get developed and propagated? No points for saying non-profits or the government, the profit motive clearly played a role here (although not in a lot of the Green Revolution developments).