The new direction of Monsanto?

[Unagi]

Nonsanto

In regards to names, is

The Umbrella Corporation

available?

Please, what are you talking about? (why do I even ask)

[TheMix]

I suspect it's a reference to the company in the Resident Evil series that "plays" with viruses and causes the downfall of humanity.

[Isgrimnur]

Axios

Bayer said Monday it would appeal an Oakland, California, jury's decision to award more than $2 billion in damages to a couple it agreed had contracted cancer after being exposed to Roundup weedkiller for over 30 years.

Why it matters: Alva and Alberta Pilliod's case marks the 3rd verdict against Roundup weedkiller to have been brought by people who contracted cancer. Bayer, which inherited Roundup through its acquisition of Monsanto last year, faces more than 13,400 U.S. lawsuits over allegations that the herbicide is a cancer risk, per Reuters. It denies the product is a health hazard.

Context: In March, a federal jury in San Francisco said Bayer must pay roughly $80 million in damages to a California man after exposure to Roundup. The company was also ordered to pay $78.6 million in damages over a 2018 case.

[stessier]

This isn't directly about Monsanto, but it is a quick overview of two GMO advances - golden wheat and omega-3 producing plants. My takeaway - Scientists be smart, yo.

[Blackhawk]

My takeaway - Peasants with pitchforks be stupid, yo.

[stessier]

I was trying to look at the positive side.

[Isgrimnur]

WaPo

Bayer, the crop science and chemicals giant, said it would invest more than $5.6 billion in weedkiller research and trim its environmental impact — a move that follows three consecutive jury verdicts involving one of its top-selling herbicides.

Bayer acquired Monsanto, the maker of Roundup weedkiller, in a $63 billion deal last year, creating the world’s largest seed and agrochemical company. But the merger has left Bayer with a market valuation of $56 billion and a sustained public relations crisis.
...
Billions of dollars for weedkiller research, plus a pledge to reduce the company’s environmental footprint by 30 percent through 2030, signaled more than a research and policy change. It also signaled a shift in tone for Bayer. On its website, along with a full-page ad in Friday’s Washington Post, Bayer said, “We listened. We learned.”
...
Still, the Environmental Protection Agency handed the company a regulatory victory earlier this year, saying that it continues to find “no risks to public health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label” and that “glyphosate is not a carcinogen.”
...
Friday’s announcement — “We listened. We learned.” — is one step toward showing consumers and industries wary of glyphosate that Bayer is sincerely making a change, Johndrow said. That includes Bayer making its decisions more transparent: The company published its glyphosate safety studies and said it will invite scientists, journalists and nongovernmental organizations to Europe as part of a glyphosate re-registration process.

[Isgrimnur]

Bayer wins latest Roundup cancer trial, ending losing streak

Bayer has won a trial in a lawsuit brought by a California man who said he developed cancer from exposure to its Roundup weedkiller, ending what had been a five-trial losing streak for the company in trials over similar claims.

The verdict was handed down on Friday by a jury in San Benito County, California Superior Court, Bayer announced. The company said in a statement that the verdict was "consistent with the evidence in this case that Roundup does not cause cancer and is not responsible for the plaintiff's illness."
...
Before its recent string of losses, which produced verdicts against the company totaling more than $2 billion, Bayer had won nine consecutive trials, meaning it has now won 10 of the last 15 trials. Further cases are expected to be tried in the coming year.

Bayer is appealing the verdicts against it, which include large punitive damages awards that are likely to be reduced because they exceed U.S. Supreme Court guidance.
...
In 2020, Bayer settled most of the then-pending Roundup cases for up to $9.6 billion but failed to get a settlement covering future cases. More than 50,000 claims remain pending.