Rice Industry Troubled by Genetic Contamination

A decade ago, European farmers and regulators questioned US plans to defy insect or weather problems in the agriculture industry by modifing plant genetics. US researchers and regulators dismissed such concerns as unreasonable and protectionist, but have since discovered that the tiny bits of pollen can spread in many unintended ways. “Biotech crops approved only as animal feed have found their way into human food," writes journalist Rick Weiss. “And plants engineered to make medicines in their tissues have escaped from their test plots.” So countries that distrust modified crops are quick to ban crops with any hint of contamination. Weiss’s article in “The Washington Post” focuses on problems with long-grain rice seed in the US, and he notes that sloppiness and sometimes downright negligence on the part of researchers and the US Department of Agriculture are “transforming US rice into a global pariah and sending the industry into its biggest crisis in memory.” Pollen that drifts with the wind or clings to insects does not recognize boundaries set by nations or researchers. US disregard for global fears over tinkering with plant genes could eventually mean the rest of the world has little choice in avoiding genetically modified food. – YaleGlobal