Outlawed GMO corn shows up in Mexico. (Environmental Intelligence).A team of scientists studying ancient corn varieties This is a list of the most commonly cultivated varieties of sweet corn, and the number of days from germination of corn plant to harvest. Standard (SU) Yellow
It has been illegal to grow transgenic corn in Mexico since 1998, when the government banned the production of genetically modified corn due to concerns about possible environmental and health impacts, including the possible contamination of the native seed supply. (Mexico is the cradle of corn domestication domestication Process of hereditary reorganization of wild animals and plants into forms more accommodating to the interests of people. In its strictest sense, it refers to the initial stage of human mastery of wild animals and plants. and still houses most of the world's corn diversity.) Before this ban, field trials of genetically engineered corn were widespread in Mexico, including in Oaxaca, and these trials may have been the source of the modified DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. . Another possibility is that farmers are planting some of the 4 to 5 million tons of corn that Mexico imports from the United States each year. Publication of the discovery has been delayed, according to one of the study's authors, UC Berkeley microbial microbial pertaining to or emanating from a microbe. microbial digestion the breakdown of organic material, especially feedstuffs, by microbial organisms. ecologist Ignacio Chapela, by strong industry protest. Chapela, who had been working with indigenous communities in Oaxaca when his team detected the DNA, said the genetic material is from a variety of seed patented and sold by one of the leading biotech corporations, such as Novartis or Monsanto. Publication of the article, therefore, could fuel a public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most tailspin tail·spin n. 1. The rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep, spiral spin. 2. Informal A loss of emotional control sometimes resulting in emotional collapse. like the one sparked by an earlier contamination of the U.S. food supply by the "Starlink" variety of transgenic corn that had not received approval for human consumption. The scientists found genetic material in the corn that encodes for production of the Bt pesticide, which is toxic to a wide range of butterflies, moths, and other related insects. Chapela says that the presence of this gene is evidence that plants engineered to produce toxins can spread to and potentially threaten the centers of crop diversity throughout the world. |
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