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Altered Genes Found In
Wild Corn In Mexico
By Merritt McKinney
11-29-1

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite Mexico's 3-year-old moratorium on the use of genetically altered corn, scientists have detected genetically modified DNA in wild maize in the mountains of the state of Oaxaca.
 
Whether the modified DNA came from seeds planted before the moratorium or from growers flouting the law is unknown, but the spread of altered genes in the birthplace of domesticated corn could have "very serious consequences," one of the investigators told Reuters Health.
 
"We show that the areas of diversification--the genetic bank account of diversity--for this crop, corn, is compromised," Dr. Ignacio H. Chapela at the University of California, Berkeley, said in an interview.
 
Chapela explained that Oaxaca is the region where corn was domesticated. Even today most of the diversity of corn is found there, he said.
 
Each year, according to Chapela, breeders go to Oaxaca to look for beneficial genes in wild corn that could be transferred into commercial crops. For instance, wild corn might contain genes that make it resistant to pests or better able to survive environmental conditions, such as drought.
 
The spread of modified DNA into wild maize may represent a "cashing in on the bank account" of diversity, Chapela noted.
 
Referring to genes that have been added to genetically modified varieties of commercial corn, Chapela said, "We were not supposed to see these moving around in the environment."
 
Chapela and a colleague at Berkeley, Dr. David Quist, sampled several varieties of maize native to Oaxaca to see whether they contained material from two strains of genetically modified corn used in the US.
 
Five of the seven types of maize they sampled tested positive for genetically modified material, Chapela and Quist report in the November 29th issue of the journal Nature. In contrast, tests on maize from Peru and a sample saved from the 1971 growing season in Oaxaca were negative.
 
It is uncertain whether the genetically modified material made its way into wild maize because farmers in Oaxaca are illegally planting genetically modified corn or whether the modified DNA has been passed down from crops planted before the moratorium, the researchers point out.
 
Chapela said that he would like to find out whether the presence of these so-called transgenic genes is increasing, decreasing or staying the same. Its spread should be studied to "see if we can reverse it," according to the Berkeley scientist.
 
He noted that corn is one of the most important crops in the world. The spread of genetically modified material could be wider, he added, since the same principle applies to other crops such as rice and wheat.
 
SOURCE: Nature 2001;414:541-543.



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