Dive Brief:

• Monsanto said it's made progress with its experimental strain of bioengineered wheat and may soon be ready to bring the seeds to market.
• If Monsanto begins selling the seeds, it would mark a new era in food engineering and in the fight against GMO food. At present there are no GMO strains of wheat on the market.
• The experimental seeds grow a genetically altered wheat that can tolerate a chemical used in the Roundup herbicide, which is also made by Monsanto.

Dive Insight:

The last time bioengineered wheat was in the news, it didn't go well for U.S, growers. That's when a university researcher detected GMO wheat, which is not approved for use, growing wild in the West. The strain was traced to Monsanto. The result was as predictable as it was swift. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan banned all wheat imports from the U.S.

Back about 10 years ago, Monsanto backed out of earlier research into GMO wheat, suggesting that the market wasn't ready for such a crop. We're unaware of anything that has happened since then to make buyers or consumers more open to bioengineered food.  So we're a little surprised to hear that Monsanto says it's moving ahead.

Still, Monsanto says it's a few years away from actually putting GMO wheat in farmers' fields. That's probably a good thing. Our sense is that sales should be on hold until the legal fight over GMO labels and definitions works its way through the courts and regulatory system.