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Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: vestor who wrote (2509)	12/17/1999 10:01:00 AM
From: phbolton	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2539

Public Misinformed on Genetically Modified Foods ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONSIDER the possibilities of a scientific breakthrough that could allow farmers to grow more food while using less pesticide, or to add vitamins to vegetable oils to prevent malnutrition. Maybe some plastic products now made from petroleum could instead be produced from plants. Would the stock prices of companies developing such products soar to Internet-style heights? Would the scientists be viewed as potential saviors in a world where hunger and malnutrition are realities for many millions, and where pollution from oil refineries remains a problem? The answer to both questions is no. Seldom in human history has a technology with such exciting possibilities seemed less popular than genetic modification of foods -- a k a "Frankenstein foods" in the British tabloids -- is today. Wall Street is leery, and now class-action lawyers have leaped in with a double-barreled suit accusing Monsanto, the leading company in the field, of trying to monopolize a business the lawyers say relies on foisting possibly dangerous foods on the public. The way things are going, Monsanto executives who want to avoid being harassed at cocktail parties and on airplanes may take to lying about what they do. Perhaps they'd do better if they claimed to be from Philip Morris. The rest is at nytimes.com most interesting comment James Wilbur, an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, figures that an independent Searle would be worth about $38 a share. You can buy Searle, with the rest of Monsanto thrown in, for less than $41 a share,