Crossword Genius

Information on modified rice not under patent (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

generic

'not under patent' is the definition.

'information on modified rice' is the wordplay.
'information' becomes 'gen' (gen is a kind of information**).
'on' indicates putting letters inside.
'modified' indicates an anagram.
'rice' with letters rearranged gives 'eric'.
'gen' going inside 'eric' is 'GENERIC'.

(Other definitions for generic that I've seen before include "Non-proprietary (drug)" , "not proprietary" , "of no specific type" , "Not specific; of a class" , "(Of drugs) having no brand name" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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