Re: transgenic corn

[Leigh Meyers <leighcmeyers@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tuesday, August 09, 2005 11:29 AM [PDT],
Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> August 8, 2005/New York TIMES.
> Study Finds No Spread of Altered Corn in Mexico
> By ELISABETH MALKIN
> 
> A broad sampling of maize in Oaxaca State, where genetically modified
> corn was detected five years ago, has failed to find any transgenic
> seeds, leading researchers from Mexico and the United States to
> conclude that the bioengineered seeds had not spread widely.
> 
> Their report, being published online this week in the Proceedings of
> the National Academy of Sciences (www.pnas.org) is the largest study
> yet of the presence of transgenic corn in Oaxaca.
> 
> "Despite the fact that Mexico imports transgenic maize grain for food,
> feed and processing, and despite the expectation that some of this
> grain may be planted in farmers' fields, the introgression of
> transgenes in the sampled area appeared to be negligible in 2003 and
> 2004," the researchers said. Mexico banned planting of genetically
> modified corn in 1998.

That's good to know... But what if you're looking for butterflies instead of $$$?

      Same source:

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES:
      Richard L. Hellmich, Blair D. Siegfried, Mark K. Sears, Diane E. Stanley-Horn, Michael J. Daniels, Heather R. Mattila, Terrence Spencer, Keith G. Bidne, and Leslie C. Lewis
      Monarch larvae sensitivity to Bacillus thuringiensis- purified proteins and pollen
      PNAS 2001 98: 11925-11930; published online before print as 10.1073/pnas.211297698 
      ...The only transgenic corn pollen that consistently affected monarch larvae was from Cry1Ab event 176 hybrids, currently <2%...
      ...The toxicity of Bt proteins expressed by transgenic corn to larval stages of butterflies and moths is well known ( , )....
      
           Abstract 
           Full Text 
           PDF 
           Supporting Table 
           
  
         AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES:
      Karen S. Oberhauser, Michelle D. Prysby, Heather R. Mattila, Diane E. Stanley-Horn, Mark K. Sears, Galen Dively, Eric Olson, John M. Pleasants, Wai-Ki F. Lam, and Richard L. Hellmich
      Temporal and spatial overlap between monarch larvae and corn pollen
      PNAS 2001 98: 11913-11918; published online before print as 10.1073/pnas.211234298 
      ...The Bt toxins produced by transgenic corn are lepidopteran-specific and kill only insects that ingest the plant tissue....
      ...included a field planted in nontransgenic corn (except Maryland and Iowa, where one site contained transgenic corn) and most included a nonagricultural area....
      
           Abstract 
           Full Text 
           PDF 
           

         AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES:
      A. R. Zangerl, D. McKenna, C. L. Wraight, M. Carroll, P. Ficarello, R. Warner, and M. R. Berenbaum
      Effects of exposure to event 176 Bacillus thuringiensis corn pollen on monarch and black swallowtail caterpillars under field conditions
      PNAS 2001 98: 11908-11912; published online before print as 10.1073/pnas.171315698 
      ...much higher than that of the monarchs and was also independent of proximity to the transgenic corn....
      
           Abstract 
           Full Text 
           PDF 
           
  More: www.pnas.org 

Leigh
www.leighm.net