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Bank Of America Investment Much of the U.S. supply of ordinary crop seeds has become contaminated with strands of engineered DNA, suggesting that current methods for segregating gene-altered seed plants from traditional varieties are failing, according to a pilot study released yesterday.

The GM canola that drifted onto Schmeiser's farm was engineered to withstand spraying of Monsanto's proprietary weedkiller, Roundup. But Schmeiser did not use Roundup on his canola crop. After all, if Schmeiser had sprayed his crop, the chemical would have killed the majority of his canola plants that were not genetically modified to tolerate the weedkiller! Schmeiser didn't take advantage of Monsanto's GM technology, but the court ruling says he's guilty of using the seed without a licensing agreement.

Investment Opportunity More than two-thirds of 36 conventional corn, soy and canola seed batches contained traces of DNA from genetically engineered crop varieties in lab tests commissioned by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based advocacy group.

Include workers involved in expediting pollination and those who cut seed tuber crops into sections for planting.

Banc Of America Investment The actual amount of foreign DNA present in U.S. seeds appears to be small, and most engineered genes getting into the seed supply are among those that regulators have deemed safe for consumption, the report acknowledges.

When you're ready to apply the crop, click the Apply button found in the floating Crop toolbar (or just double click inside the crop rectangle).

Banking Investment But if federal rules and farm practices are not tightened, it concludes, the United States may soon find it impossible to guarantee that any portion of its food supply is free of gene-altered elements, a situation that could seriously disrupt the export of U.S. foods, seeds and oils. Many believe it could also gravely harm the domestic market for organic food -- one of the fastest-growing and more lucrative segments of U.S. agriculture.

There is evidence that (Salvia hispanica L) was first used as food as early as 3500 B.C., and served as a cash crop in central Mexico between 1500 and 900 B.C. The seeds were eaten alone and mixed with other seed crops, drank as a beverage when dissolved in water, ground into flour, included in medicines, and pressed for oil. Aztec rulers received seeds as an annual tribute from conquered nations, and the grain was offered to the gods during religious ceremonies.

Investment Solution Strategic And with a growing number of crop varieties now being engineered to produce not just agricultural chemicals, but also potent pharmaceutical and industrial products in their leaves and stems, future incidents of cross-contamination may pose even more serious health and economic risks, the report warns.

There may be no corn, soybeans or canola seed in U.S. crops that do not have traces of their genetically engineered counterparts, according to a study released Monday by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Investment Banking Services "No one wants drugs or plastics in our cornflakes," said Margaret Mellon, director of the food and environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental and health group that has taken a skeptical stance toward agricultural biotechnology but is generally respected by experts for hewing to science. "Left unchecked, this is a problem that will hurt the U.S. economically, and perhaps even affect our health."

Bank Investment The 70-page report, "Gone to Seed," recommends that the agriculture department conduct a thorough assessment of the extent of genetic contamination of the U.S. seed industry.

Alternative Investment The report also calls for tighter restrictions on the outdoor planting of crops engineered to make drugs and industrial products. It suggests that reservoirs of still-pure seed stocks for major crops be set aside immediately as an "insurance policy" in case gene-altered varieties prove to be environmentally or medically harmful.

Online Investment Services Industry officials said the findings were predictable.

Accompany Essential Investment "We were not surprised by this report . . . knowing that pollen travels and commodity grains might commingle at various places and you may have some mixing in transport or storage," said Lisa Dry, communications director for the Biotechnology Industry Association.

Investment Company Rather than pursue the unrealistic goal of trying to keep seeds completely free of genetic contaminants, she and other industry representatives said, the United States should work harder to get European and other nations -- many of which have balked at engineered crops and foods -- to be more accepting of the technology.

Investment Management Solution "It's important for countries around the world to adopt a uniform standard" of acceptable levels of contamination, Dry said.

Investment Management Services Dick Crowder, president of the Alexandria-based American Seed Trade Association, agreed, saying he believes U.S. regulators are doing an adequate job of keeping the food supply safe.

Guide Investment Stock The Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture have been developing standards to keep unwanted engineered products out of the food supply. Spokesmen from both agencies said yesterday they would review the report.

Investment Manual Solution Whatever their significance, the findings indicate a remarkable degree of inadvertent DNA redistribution since American farmers started growing genetically engineered crops on a commercial scale eight years ago. Most of the varieties in use today have either a bacterial gene that helps the plant fight insect pests or a gene that makes the crop resistant to a popular weedkiller.

Investment Stock Hundreds of other varieties are in testing. The group could not search for many of those possible contaminants, because more than half of their DNA sequences are trade secrets.

Essential Investment Solution Engineered crops remain highly restricted in Japan, Europe and other regions of the world, but they have become popular with American farmers and accepted by most U.S. consumers. In recent years, about 80 percent of all soy grown in this country has been genetically engineered, as is most canola and about 40 percent of all corn.

Citicorp Investment Services Non-engineered products are generally mixed with engineered varieties, except when they are aimed at certain foreign or specialty markets. But plants that are grown specifically to replenish the nation's supply of conventional seeds are carefully segregated to retain their purity and are used to produce "certified" commercial grade seed.

Fool Guide Investment Motley Mellon's group bought certified soy, corn and canola seeds and had six popular varieties of each tested for contaminating DNA sequences at two different laboratories that specialize in such tests -- GeneScan USA of Belle Chasse, La., and Biogenetic Services of Brookings, S.D.

Fidelity Investment Services The first lab found engineered DNA in half the corn and soy varieties and in all six of the canola. The second lab, which was given larger amounts with which to work, got positive results on five of six varieties for all three crops.

Investment Management The molecular test used, known as PCR, is extremely sensitive and is a standard workhorse of molecular biology today, though its use in plant materials is still being perfected. Although PCR does not do a good job of estimating amounts, the scientists estimated that probably 0.05 percent to 1 percent of each batch's total DNA was engineered DNA.

Francisco Investment San It remains unclear to what extent the contamination is biological -- the result of pollen spread in the field -- or mechanical, from inadvertent commingling of conventional seeds with engineered seeds in farm equipment or in storage areas, Mellon said.

Mellon Investment Services By Rick Weiss
Washington Post - 2/24/2004

Topic: Genetic Engineering

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