GMO Corn Pollution in Mexico Worse Than Suspected

GMO Corn Pollution in Mexico Worse Than Suspected

THE HAGUE, Netherlands--Pollution of Mexico's gene bank ofnative varieties of corn by genetically modified organism (GMO) corn is worsethan initially feared, said Jorge Soberon, executive secretary of Mexico'snational commission on bio diversity. The comment was made at a biodiversityconvention in Holland last April.

Indigenous maize grown by traditional farmers was tested for contamination byMexican government scientists, revealing 95 percent of the sites surveyedcontained traces of a gene from the cauliflower mosaic virus, the virus used toturn on herbicidal or insecticidal properties in GMO corn in the U.S.Contamination rates varied from one to 35 percent of a given crop, with anaverage contamination of 10 to 15 percent. This marks the worst known case ofpollution by genetically engineered crops, according to Soberon.

The Mexican government has a moratorium on planting genetically modifiedcorn, which began in 1998. Hundreds of varieties of corn are grown andcross-bred to produce crops for extreme conditions.