On September 15, 2005 representatives of Syngenta disclosed to Down To Earth the company's plans to patent a few thousand gene sequences of the rice (Oryza sativa) genome. Further investigations revealed that the world's third largest seed company has filed at least 15 applications to secure patents over the rice genome. This is shocking, considering the complete genome sequence of the world's most preferred cereal was made available to everyone for free by the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (irgsp)