The Glyphosate reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Glyphosate

Glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine, C₃H₈NO₅P) is used as a non-selective herbicide to kill weeds, especially perennials.

It kills plants by inhibiting their ability to make aromatic amino acids, which is an interesting target since only plants and microorganisms have this metabolic pathway. Some new crops have been bred to be resistant to it.

The name is a contraction of glycine, phospho-, and -ate. It was first sold by Monsanto under the tradename Roundup but is no longer under patent so is now marketed under various names.

Glyphosate is one of a number of herbicides used by the United States government to spray Colombian coca fields through Plan Colombia. Its health effects, effects on legal crops, and effectiveness in fighting the war on drugs have been disputed widely.

This is the "Glyphosate" reference article from the English Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.