RESEARCHER USED PLANT GROWN IN CANADA AND BANNED FOR EXPORT TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
Apr. 1 2000 / Ottawa Citizen / Tom Spears
John Heritage, a microbiologist from the University of Leeds, was cited as finding that genes engineered in some North American corn to make the crop resist insect pests stay in the corn plant and don't spread into other organisms.
The story says his results are the first findings reported in the controversial field.
The story goes on to say that Bt-corn is grown in Canada but is illegal for planting in Britain. And European bans on imports of genetically engineered foods from Canada and the United States have been a sore point in trade relations, driving down prices for engineered crops here.
Gordon Surgeoner, president of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, was cited as saying he wants to see more details, but added, "Here's another piece of information that reaffirms the majority scientific opinion" that disease resistance won't come from modified corn.
Lucy Sharratt of the Sierra Club was cited as saying Friday it was glad to see studies being done, but it wants to see more, adding, "I've been troubled that this kind of study wasn't done before the antibiotic-resistant gene was used. I don't think long-term tests have been done, and we do need more independent studies to ask these questions. I would still be concerned about the whole set of genes that gets introduced."
(posted without permission)
