Is Monsanto a chemical company?

Originally a chemical company, Monsanto sold its chemical business in 1997 to build a presence in biotechnology, scoring much-publicized success in developing soybeans able to resist the affects of its market-leading herbicide, Roundup. The company also produced NutraSweet, the dominant sugar substitute in the United States.

What if Monsanto didn't have chemical operations?

Without the chemical operations, Monsanto would be reduced to an approximately $5-billion company deriving half its sales from agricultural products and the rest from pharmaceuticals and food ingredients, but Shapiro did not intend to leave it as such.

When did Monsanto start using glyphosate?

Jean-Francois Monier/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Monsanto started using the chemical glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, in the 1970s to kill weeds. It was only after the company developed genetically modified seeds in the late 1990s, however, that Roundup became the dominant weedkiller.