On October 17, this year’s World Food Prize will be awarded to executives at chemical-biotechnology companies Monsanto and Syngenta for developing genetically modified organisms. The three laureates sharing the 250,000 dollar prize are Robert Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Monsanto; Mary-Dell Chilton, founder of Syngenta Biotechnology, and Marc Van Montagu, a Belgian biotech pioneer. According to the World Food Prize Foundation, they “each conducted groundbreaking molecular research on how a plant bacterium could be adapted as a tool to insert genes from another organism into plant cells.” The scientists receive the prize for “making it possible for farmers to grow crops with: improved yields; resistance to insects and disease; and the ability to tolerate extreme variations in climate”, the Statement of Achievement says. The decision was heavily criticized when the winners were announced in June. In an open letter, 81 recipients of the Right Livelihood Award, known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’, condemned the selection of GMO scientists as “a terribly wrong signal for the future of food security and agriculture”. Indian food expert Vandana Shiva said: “Not only are GMOs unsafe, they are destroying biodiversity, increasing farmers' dependency on seed and chemicals and leading to the emergence of super pests and super weeds.” Monsanto and Syngenta are both major sponsors of the World Food Prize Foundation, which accepted a 5 million dollar donation from Monsanto in 2008.