Alert after GM crop altered other plants

Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Monday December 30, 2002
The Guardian

Genetically modified crops being grown in Britain are likely to have
cross-pollinated with ordinary crops and weeds, government research has
shown.

GM oilseed rape so readily cross pollinates it is unlikely that GM crops
could be grown in Britain without contaminating all oilseed varieties,
according to the research.

The National Institute for Agricultural Botany at Cambridge says current
safety margins of 50 metres between GM crops and normal crops are not
acceptable. Any normal crops being grown for seed or to be labelled organic
would be rendered unfit for market because of contamination, and the
research evidence shows that cross-pollination over large distances is
possible.

Up to 48% of the weed wild turnip growing in the GM crops had swapped genes
with its cultivated relative, making it resistant to weedkiller, the
researchers found. Because seed is spilt at harvest new GM plants grow in
the next crops, leading to further dangers of cross-contamination.

The government has not yet published the results of the research in full,
but put a summary on its website on Christmas Eve where it was spotted by
Friends of the Earth.

Pete Riley, from FoE, said: "This raises serious doubts about whether we can
grow GM crops in this country and still give farmers the option of growing
non-GM crops and organic produce. The fact is that this level of
cross-pollination between crops means it is only a matter of time before
everything in the UK becomes contaminated."