Genetically modified crop genes contaminate Mexican corn!
MEXICO CITY - February 23, 2009 - Genes from genetically engineered corn have been found in traditional crop strains in Mexico, according to a new study likely to reignite a bitter controversy over biotech maize.
The paper, by scientists from Mexico, the United States and the Netherlands, backs a 2001 probe that sparked a fight over the safety of genetically modified (GM) crops.
Green activists say GM crops are a potential hazard, arguing that their genes could spread to related plants through cross-pollination.
Their campaign has helped drive bans on GM crops in some countries, including Mexico itself, the ancestral home of maize, as corn is also called.
In the 2001 study, published in the prestigious British journal Nature, researchers reported finding transgenes in samples of corn taken from the Sierra Juarez region of Oaxaca.
But this study was blasted for technical inaccuracy and choice of samples. In an exceptional slap, Nature distanced itself from the paper, saying the evidence had not been strong enough to warrant publication.
