detecting genetically modified seeds

I bought some soybean seeds from Ferry Morse called Disoy. Are they genetically modified?
Internet search for an answer hasn't worked. Is there a sure -fire way to detect GM seed packets of any plant? Is any seed labeled "organic" not modified? Are companies allowed to withhold this information from the public?

I don't think there are many purposely genetically modified seeds being sold to average gardeners--most of them go to the large-scale commercial farms. If you're seeing veggie seed packets with claims about bigger, tastier, disease resistant, etc veggies, those traits most likely came about the old fashioned way (cross-pollinating, selecting plants with desirable traits and crossing those some more, etc) There are some concerns about GM crops getting mixed into crops that aren't GM but without doing genetic testing there's no way you could know if that happened or not. But I'd guess the chances are pretty low that your seed packet was accidentally contaminated with GM seeds.

Thank you so much, ecrane3. Now I can plant my seeds without any qualms. BTW,
I'm also in 9a here in Bakersfield.

Am pretty sure that the bulk of genetic engineering of crops like soy is to introduce herbicide resistance into the crop. That way more herbicide can be used without killing the plants. Know the big news with soy has been introduction of the 'Roundup Ready' gene. Guess one way to test your seeds, or at least the plants that grows from them, is to give them a dose of Roundup and if they survive they were genetically engineered. I'm not recommending this!

Disoy is a cultivar of Edamame (edible soy bean). No genetic modification in this group. That is limited to the field soybeans used for oil, animal feed etc. Even then the modification is to allow the the use of Round-up to control weeds and grasses

Glad Disoy is OK.
Not sure why "even then". It is, in fact, the use of genetic engineering which would potentially increase the use of herbicides which is the concern. I believe Monsanto initially said that the Roundup Ready gene would decrease the use of herbicides. Is there any evidence of this?

The basic problem is having to use a combination of herbicides. Round-Up is broad spectrum and kills both grasses and broadleaf weeds. Unfortunately soybeans are a broad leaf. Broadleaf weeds (example morning glory)may have poisonous seeds which renders the crop unsalable. Making the soybean plant tolerant of Round-up enables the use of a single herbicide with fewer applications. Of course in the olden days, they were mechanically cultivated. No one will pay the labor and fuel costs today.

Have a small perennial gardening business and don't use herbicides or pesticides. Do things manually using good horticultural practices. Know what you say about costs.

Thanks for all the info. Another related ( if not too intelligent) question: Are all so-called "terminator" seeds genetically modified? In other words, if I save my Disoy seeds will they be fertile since the aren't GMO beans? Does this hold true for anything a home gardener might buy, e.g., watermelons?

Some hybrids are sterile and some are not even among naturally produced, non-GM plants. And some hybrids will bear seed but won't come true from seed, again nothing to do with whether they're GM or not. So your experiences with being able to collect seeds from your plants that you grow is going to vary depending on what particular plant you have.

As far as I know all "terminator" seeds are fairly exotic. Seedless watermelons of course are essentialy sterile. Same is true of forced interspecies crosses like the C. maxima- C. moschata squashes. like Tetsubuko. These technically are not GMO, but manipulated hybrids. Like the mule, they are not natural and tend to be sterile. You can save seeds of Disoy or any edamame, they are open pollinated.

Thanks so much for sharing your expertise, Farmerdill and ecrane3. BTW, I don't know why the general public hasn't noticed that seedless watermelons are flavorless compared to the seeded ones. In my area the seedless ones are much more popular. I wonder if it's impossible to produce a waternelon that is small, seedless, and actually sweet.

can add a bit more re terminator technology:
Monsanto has bought a company that has patented this. I don't believe it has been used yet, due to the uproar. It will involve genetically engineering a seed so that it is sterile. This means farmers will have to buy new seeds every year, which is particularly unpopular in the Developing World.
Monsanto wants to add the terminator gene to seeds that have already been genetically engineered for something else, e.g. herbicide resistance. Thus, in this case, everybody will have to buy new herbicide resistant seeds each year.

Ofcourse it is possible that your seeds are contaminated with GM genes.
To find this out well, I don't really know either, you probally need to send it to a lab.

Comment on the tasteless seedless watermelon. You were not exagerating about tasteless! yuk!

I'm probably going to get bombarded with criticsm after this but....
It's important to know that unless you are worried about ingesting pesticides it doesn't matter if it's organic or not when it comes to plants. In meat it's important because of the use of hormones as hormones don't break down and are only stored. In that case, you're ingesting hormones which is bad. In plants, a genetically modified plant contains the same amino acids as any other living thing and regardless of their arrangement on the dna chain, break down the same way when you ingest it.