Monsanto Company was a U.S. manufacturer of chemical and biotechnology products for agricultural use. Founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri, its best known product was Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide. The company was also among the first to genetically modify plant cells and conducted the first field tests of genetically modified crops in 1988. Among its other products were PCBs, DDT, Agent Orange, and recombinant bovine growth hormone. In 2018 it was acquired by the German chemical giant Bayer, after which its name was no longer used, although its product brand names were retained.
Monsanto received an increasing amount of criticism and became the object of numerous lawsuits because of the alleged harmful effects of its products on health and the environment, its attempt to dominate the world's supply of seeds for agricultural crops, its insistence on the safety of its products and claims about their benefits, and its intense lobbying of governments worldwide. These controversies have continued with its new owner Bayer.