Editing Monsanto (section)

==="Pre-Pharmacia" Monsanto===
==== 1901 to WWII ====
In 1901, Monsanto was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, as a [[chemical company]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url = http://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/biotech-firms-need-innovation-strategies/5563/ |title=Biotech Firms Need Innovation Strategies |last = Glick |first=J. Leslie |date=September 1, 2015 |work=[[Gen. Eng. Biotechnol. News|Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News]] |access-date=September 29, 2015 |page = 11}}{{Open access}}</ref> The founder was [[John Francis Queeny]], who, at age 42, was a 30‑year veteran of the nascent pharmaceutical industry.<ref>[http://www.ja.org/nested/stlouis/John_Queeny.pdf] brief bio from Junior Achievement {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206123651/http://www.ja.org/nested/stlouis/John_Queeny.pdf|date=February 6, 2009}}</ref> He funded the firm with his own money and capital from a [[soft drink]] distributor. He used for the company name the maiden name of his wife, Olga Méndez Monsanto, who was a scioness of the [[Monsanto family]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ehrlich|1997|p=3}}</ref> 

The company's first products were commodity food additives, such as the [[artificial sweetener]] [[saccharin]], [[caffeine]] and [[vanillin]].<ref>Erik Simani, World Resources Institute. 2001. [http://pdf.wri.org/bell/case_1-56973-475-5_full_version_a_english.pdf The Monsanto Company: Quest for Sustainability]</ref>{{rp|6}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Our history – Early years|url=http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/monsanto-history.aspx|publisher=Monsanto official website|access-date=September 27, 2013}}</ref><ref>Marc S. Reisch for Chemical & Engineering News. January 12, 1998 [http://pubs.acs.org/cen/hotarticles/cenear/980112/coal.html From Coal Tar to Crafting a Wealth of Diversity]</ref><ref>Robert Ancuceanu. [http://practica-farmaceutica.medica.ro/reviste_med/download/practica_farmaceutica/2011.2/PF_Nr-2_2011_Art-1.pdf Saccharin – urban myths and scientific data] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515182436/http://practica-farmaceutica.medica.ro/reviste_med/download/practica_farmaceutica/2011.2/PF_Nr-2_2011_Art-1.pdf |date=May 15, 2014 }} Practica Farmaceutică 2011 4(2):69–72</ref><ref>{{cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=uVq_AAAAQBAJ}} |title=Sweet Stuff: An American History of Sweeteners from Sugar to Sucralose | publisher=Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press |author=Warner, Deborah Jean |year=2011 |pages=182–190 |isbn=978-1-935623-05-2}}</ref>

Monsanto expanded to Europe in 1919 in a partnership with Graesser's Chemical Works at [[Cefn Mawr]], Wales. The venture produced vanillin, [[aspirin]] and its raw ingredient [[salicylic acid]], and later [[rubber]] processing chemicals. 

In the 1920s, Monsanto expanded into basic industrial chemicals such as [[sulfuric acid]] and [[polychlorinated biphenyl|PCBs]]. Queeny's son [[Edgar Monsanto Queeny]] took over the company in 1928. 

In 1926 the company founded and incorporated a town called Monsanto in [[Illinois]] (now known as [[Sauget, Illinois|Sauget]]). It was formed to provide minimal regulation and low taxes for Monsanto plants at a time when local jurisdictions had most of the responsibility for environmental rules. It was renamed in honor of Leo Sauget, its first village president.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115984289083380869|title=Yes, in My Backyard: Tiny Sauget, Illinois, Likes Business Misfits|last=Spain|first=William|date=2006-10-03|work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=2017-12-22|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

In 1935, Monsanto bought the [[Swann Chemical Company]] in [[Anniston, Alabama]], and thereby entered the business of producing [[polychlorinated biphenyl|PCBs]].<ref name="CIA1">{{cite web|title=Poisoned by PCBs: 'A Lack of Control'|url=http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/anniston/2.asp|website=Chemical Industry Archives|access-date=November 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210110457/http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/anniston/2.asp|archive-date=December 10, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Head">{{cite journal |last1=Head|first1=Thomas R. III|title=PCBs—The Rise and Fall of an Industrial Miracle|journal=Natural Resources & Environment|date=Spring 2005|page=18|url=http://www.americanbar.org/tools/digitalassetabstract.html/content/dam/aba/publishing/natural_resources_environment/environ_mo_premium_nr_nre_spring05_Head.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208230006/http://www.americanbar.org/tools/digitalassetabstract.html/content/dam/aba/publishing/natural_resources_environment/environ_mo_premium_nr_nre_spring05_Head.pdf |archive-date=2015-12-08 |url-status=live|access-date=November 30, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Montague">{{cite web |last1=Montague|first1=Peter|title=How We Got Here – Part 1: The History of Chlorinated Diphenyl (PCB's)|url=http://www.hudsonwatch.net/rachels01.html|website=HudsonWatch.net}}</ref>

In 1936, Monsanto acquired Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories in [[Dayton, Ohio]], to acquire the expertise of [[Charles Allen Thomas]] and Carroll A. Hochwalt. The acquisition became Monsanto's Central Research Department.<ref name="Landau">Ralph Landau, [http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4548&page=338 "Charles Allen Thomas," ''Memorial Tributes''], vol. 2, National Academy of Engineering</ref>{{rp|340–341}} Thomas spent the rest of his career at Monsanto, serving as President (1951–1960) and Board Chair (1960–1965). He retired in 1970.<ref name="Bird">David Bird, [https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/31/obituaries/charles-thomas-ex-chairman-of-monsanto.html "Charles Thomas, Ex-Chairman of Monsanto" (obituary)], ''The New York Times'', March 31, 1982.</ref> In 1943, Thomas was called to a meeting in Washington, D.C., with [[Leslie Groves]], commander of the [[Manhattan Project]], and [[James Bryant Conant|James Conant]], president of [[Harvard University]] and chairman of the [[National Defense Research Committee]] (NDRC).<ref name="Building">''Dayton Daily News''. September 18, 1983 [http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/building_the_bomb_in_oakw.html "Building the Bomb in Oakwood"].</ref> They urged Thomas to become co-director of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos with [[J. Robert Oppenheimer|Robert Oppenheimer]], but Thomas was reluctant to leave Dayton and Monsanto.<ref name="Building" /> He joined the NDRC, and Monsanto's Central Research Department began to conduct related research.<ref>Harvey V. Moyer, ed., [http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/4367751-nEJIbm/4367751.pdf Polonium. TID-5221], Atomic Energy Commission U.S.A., July 1956</ref>{{rp|vii}} To that end, Monsanto operated the [[Dayton Project]], and later [[Mound Laboratories]], and assisted in the development of the first [[nuclear weapons]].<ref name="Building" />

==== Post-WWII ====
In 1946, Monsanto developed and marketed "All" laundry detergent, which it sold to [[Lever Brothers]] in 1957.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/unilever-lever-brothers/98749/ |title=Unilever (Lever Brothers Co.) &#124; AdAge Encyclopedia of Advertising – Advertising Age |publisher=Adage.com |date=September 15, 2003}}</ref> In 1947, its [[styrene]] factory was destroyed in the [[Texas City Disaster]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Fire on the Grandcamp| url=http://www.texascity-library.org/disaster/first.php| publisher=Moore Memorial Public Library| location=Texas City, TX| date=n.d.| access-date=October 21, 2015| archive-date=June 24, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624233433/http://www.texascity-library.org/disaster/first.php}}</ref> In 1949, Monsanto acquired [[American Viscose Corporation]] from [[Courtaulds]]. In 1954, Monsanto partnered with German chemical giant [[Bayer]] to form [[Mobay]] and market [[polyurethane]]s in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wallace|first1=Cynthia Day|title=Legal control of the multinational enterprise: national regulatory techniques and the prospects for international controls|date=1982|publisher=Nijhoff|location=The Hague|isbn=978-90-247-2668-4|page=188}}</ref>

Monsanto began manufacturing [[DDT]] in 1944, along with some 15 other companies. This insecticide was used to kill [[malaria]]-transmitting mosquitoes, but  it was banned in the United States in 1972 due to its harmful environmental impacts.

In 1977, Monsanto stopped producing PCBs; Congress banned PCB production two years later.<ref>[http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/pubs/about.htm Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)]. EPA.gov (June 28, 2006).</ref><ref name="ATSDR" />

====1960s and 1970s====
In the mid‑1960s, [[William Standish Knowles]] and his team invented a way to selectively synthesize [[enantiomers]] via [[asymmetric hydrogenation]]. This was the first method for the [[Catalysis|catalytic]] production of pure [[Chirality (chemistry)|chiral]] compounds.<ref>William S. Knowles. [https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2001/knowles-lecture.pdf ASYMMETRIC HYDROGENATIONS]. Nobel Lecture, December 8, 2001</ref> Knowles' team designed the "first industrial process to chirally synthesize an important compound"—[[L-dopa|L‑dopa]], which is used to treat [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Yun |first=O. |date=November 22, 2005 |title=Profile of William S. Knowles |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=102 |pages=16913–16915 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0507546102 |pmc=1287994 |pmid=16286647 |issue=47|bibcode=2005PNAS..10216913Y |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2001, Knowles and [[Ryōji Noyori]] won the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]]. In the mid-1960s, chemists at Monsanto developed the [[Monsanto process]] for making [[acetic acid]], which until 2000 was the most widely used production method. In 1964, Monsanto chemists invented [[AstroTurf]] (initially ChemGrass).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astroturf.com/1964/06/|title=June – 1964 – AstroTurf|access-date=June 15, 2015|archive-date=July 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714075949/http://www.astroturf.com/1964/06/}}</ref>

In the 1960s and 1970s, Monsanto was a producer of [[Agent Orange]] for [[United States Armed Forces]] operations in [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]], and settled out of court in a lawsuit brought by veterans in 1984.<ref name="EncNatSec">"Agent Orange" entry in Encyclopedia of United States National Security, edited by Richard J. Samuel. SAGE Publications, 2005. {{ISBN|9781452265353}}</ref>{{rp|6}} In 1968, it became the first company to start mass production of (visible) [[light-emitting diode]]s (LEDs), using [[gallium arsenide]] [[phosphide]]. From 1968 to 1970, sales doubled every few months. Their products (discrete LEDs and seven-segment numeric displays) became industry standards. The primary markets then were [[Calculator|electronic calculators]], [[Watch|digital watches]] and digital clocks.<ref name="Schubert">{{Cite book|author=E. Fred Schubert|title=Light-Emitting Diodes|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2003|chapter=1|isbn=978-0-8194-3956-7}}</ref> Monsanto became a pioneer of [[optoelectronics]] in the 1970s.

Between 1968 and 1974, the company sponsored the [[PGA Tour]] event in Pensacola, Florida, which was renamed the [[Pensacola Open|Monsanto Open]].

In 1974, [[Harvard University]] and Monsanto signed a 10-year [[Medical research#Privately .28industry.29 funded biomedical research|research grant]] to support the cancer research of [[Judah Folkman]], which became the largest such arrangement ever made; medical inventions arising from that research were the first for which Harvard allowed its faculty to submit [[patent application]].<ref name=NASbio>[[Patricia K. Donahoe]]. [http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/folkman-judah.pdf Judah Folkman: 1933–2008. A Biographical Memoir] National Academy of Sciences, 2014</ref><ref name=HarvardBIo>Harvard Medical School [http://fa.hms.harvard.edu/files/memorialminute_folkman_judah.pdf Bio at Harvard Medical School]</ref>

====1980 to 1989: Becoming an agribiotech company====
Monsanto scientists were among the first to genetically modify a plant cell, publishing their results in 1983.<ref name=pbn/> Five years later the company conducted the first field tests of [[genetically modified crops]]. Increasing involvement in [[agricultural biotechnology]] dates from the installment of Richard Mahoney as Monsanto's [[Chief executive officer|CEO]] in 1983.<ref name=":0" /> This involvement increased under the leadership of [[Robert B. Shapiro|Robert Shapiro]], appointed CEO in 1995, leading ultimately to the disposition of product lines unrelated to agriculture.<ref name=":0" />

In 1985, Monsanto acquired [[G.D. Searle, LLC|G.D. Searle & Company]], a [[life sciences]] company that focused on pharmaceuticals, agriculture and animal health. In 1993, its Searle division filed a patent application for [[celecoxib|Celebrex]],<ref>[http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/ob/docs/patexclnew.cfm?Appl_No=020998&Product_No=003&table1=OB_Rx Orange Book: Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations]. accessdata.fda.gov</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US5466823A/en|title=Substituted pyrazolyl benzenesulfonamides}}</ref> which in 1998 became the first selective [[COX-2 inhibitor|COX‑2 inhibitor]] to be approved by the U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/98/20998.cfm |title=Drug Approval Package: Celebrex (Celecoxib) NDA# 20-998 |publisher=Accessdata.fda.gov}}</ref> Celebrex became a [[blockbuster drug]] and was often mentioned as a key reason for [[Pfizer]]'s acquisition of Monsanto's pharmaceutical business in 2002.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Frank, Robert |author2=Hensley, Scott |name-list-style=amp |title=Pfizer to Buy Pharmacia For $60 Billion in Stock|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1026684057282753560|work=The Wall Street Journal |date=July 16, 2002}}</ref>

====1990 to 1999: Moving into the seed market & industry consolidation====
In 1994, Monsanto introduced a [[Recombinant DNA|recombinant]] version of [[bovine somatotropin]], brand-named Posilac.<ref name = MG>{{cite web | url = http://www.monsantodairy.com/about/general_info/index.html | title = General information – Posilac| year = 2007 | publisher = Monsanto | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080101123956/http://www.monsantodairy.com/about/general_info/index.html| archive-date = January 1, 2008}}</ref> Monsanto later sold this business to [[Eli Lilly and Company]].

In 1996, Monsanto purchased [[Agracetus]], the biotechnology company that had generated the first transgenic cotton, soybeans, peanuts and other crops, and from which Monsanto had been licensing technology since 1991.<ref>{{Cite press release|title = WR Grace Sells Agracetus to Monsanto for $150M|url = http://www.biotechprofiles.com/companyfiles/madisonnetwork/c81a944349224f0984a586f89719edb6.pdf|date = April 8, 1996|publisher = W. R. Grace|via = BiotechProfiles<!--http://www.biotechprofiles.com/companyprofile/Monsanto.aspx--><!--found in archive.org-->|access-date = August 11, 2012|archive-date = November 5, 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111105040555/http://biotechprofiles.com/companyfiles/madisonnetwork/c81a944349224f0984a586f89719edb6.pdf}}</ref>

In 1997, Monsanto divested [[Solutia]], a company created to carry off the responsibility for Monsanto's PCB business and associated liabilities, along with some related organic chemical production.

Monsanto first entered the [[maize]] seed business when it purchased 40% of [[DEKALB Genetics Corporation|Dekalb]] in 1996; it purchased the remainder of the corporation in 1998.<ref name=":1">{{cite press release |title=Justice Department Approves Monsanto's Acquisition of Dekalb Genetics Corporation |date=November 30, 1998 |url=https://www.justice.gov/atr/public/press_releases/1998/2103.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040218013852/http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/press_releases/1998/2103.htm |archive-date=February 18, 2004 |publisher=United States Department of Justice}}</ref> In 1997, the company first published an annual report citing Monsanto's Law, a biotechnological take on [[Moore's law|Moore's Law]], indicating its future directions and exponential growth in the use of biotechnology. In the same year, Californian [[Genetically modified organism|GMO]] company '''Calgene''' was acquired.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=25968 |title = Stocks|website = [[Bloomberg News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://money.cnn.com/1997/04/01/deals/monsanto/|title=Monsanto buys Calgene - Apr. 1, 1997 |website=money.cnn.com}}</ref> In 1998, Monsanto purchased [[Cargill]]'s international seed business, which gave it access to sales and distribution facilities in 51 countries.<ref name=":1" /> In 2005, it finalized the purchase of [[Seminis Inc]], a leading global vegetable and fruit seed company, for $1.4 billion.<ref>{{cite news |title=Monsanto closes $1.4 billion buy of Seminis |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/03/21/daily37.html |access-date=2018-01-06 |work=St. Louis Business Journal |date=March 23, 2005}}</ref> This made it the world's largest conventional seed company.

In 1999, Monsanto sold off NutraSweet Co.<ref name=":0" /> In December of the same year, Monsanto agreed to merge with [[Pharmacia & Upjohn]], in a deal valuing the transaction at $27 billion.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Deogun |first1=Nikhil |last2=Langreth |first2=Robert |last3=Burton |first3=Thomas M. |title=Pharmacia & Upjohn, Monsanto Boards Approve $27 Billion Merger of Equals |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB945650774971796642 |access-date=2018-01-06 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=December 20, 1999}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Barboza |first=David |date=December 20, 1999 |title=Monsanto and Pharmacia to Join, Creating a Pharmaceutical Giant |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/20/business/monsanto-and-pharmacia-to-join-creating-a-pharmaceutical-giant.html?ref=monsantocompany |access-date=2018-06-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref> The agricultural division became a wholly owned subsidiary of the "new" Pharmacia; Monsanto's medical research division, which included products such as Celebrex.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barboza |first1=David |title=Monsanto and Pharmacia to Join, Creating a Pharmaceutical Giant |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/20/business/monsanto-and-pharmacia-to-join-creating-a-pharmaceutical-giant.html |access-date=2018-01-06 |work=The New York Times |date=December 20, 1999}}</ref>

===="Pre-Pharmacia" Monsanto overview====

{| class="collapsible collapsed" style="width:100%; border:solid 1px #aaa"
|-
! style="background:#F0F2F5" | Illustration of the company's mergers, acquisitions, [[Corporate spin-off|spin-offs]] and historical predecessors:
|-
|
{{cladeR | style=font-size:90%;line-height:110% |thickness=0
|label1='''Pharmacia Corp.'''<br/><small>Acquired by [[Pfizer]], 2002</small>
|1={{cladeR
   |label1=[[Pharmacia & Upjohn]]
   |1={{cladeR
      |label1=[[Pharmacia]]<br/><small>(Merged 1995)</small>
      |1={{cladeR
         |label1=Kabi Pharmacia
         |1={{cladeR
            |label1=Pharmacia Biotech
            |1={{cladeR
               |2=LKB-produkter AB<br/><small>(Acq 1968)</small>
               |1=PL Laboratories
               }}
            |2=Kabi Vitrum<br/><small>(Acq 1990)</small>
            }}
         |2=[[Farmitalia]]<br/><small>(Acq 1993)</small>
         }}
      |2=[[Upjohn]]<br/><small>(Merged 1995)</small>
      }}
   |label2=Monsanto
   |2={{clade sequential |reverse=yes |inverse=yes
                  |8=[[Cargill]]<br/><small>(Seed div, Acq 1998)</small>
                  |7=[[DeKalb Genetics Corporation]]<br/><small>(Acq 1998)</small>
                  |6=[[Agracetus]]<br/><small>(Acq 1996)</small>
                  |5=[[G. D. Searle & Company]]<br/><small>(Acq 1985)</small>
                  |4=American Viscose<br/><small>(Acq 1949)</small>
                  |3=Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories<br/><small>(Acq 1936)</small>
                  |2=[[Swann Chemical Company]]<br/><small>(Acq 1935)</small>
                  |1=Monsanto<br/><small>(Est 1901)</small>
      }} 
   }} 
}}

|}