When an unapproved genetically engineered (GE) crop was discovered in American rice last year, it triggered the biggest marketing and financial disaster in the history of the US rice industry. We commissioned an independent economist to do some maths; he found that total costs could exceed USD$1.2 billion. [...] Bayer’s response to the disaster, which has destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of people, from growers to producers to sellers, was to blame God. Seriously, they claimed that the contamination scandal was probably caused by ”an Act of God.” Even by biotech industry standards, this is beyond grotesque.