Common Sense for the Biochemist

Thanks to Matt Mullen's ag bio biz blog for the head's up on this one (more on his blog below). The battle between farmers growing GMO crops vs. non-GMO crops takes a front page spot on the Wall-Street Journal today. One possible flaw in the story I want to point out. Under the heading Contaminated Seed, the story states:

The debate over GM contamination has surfaced most passionately in Mexico. Four years ago, scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, discovered that GM corn had mingled with native varieties in the southern state of Oaxaca. The report, later supported by Mexican government research, staggered local farmers. Mexican peasants depend on corn for as much as 40% of their diet, using it in everything from tortillas to a hot drink called "atole."

However, a recent article in Science (and blogged here), reported that this contamination had disappeared when a follow up study was performed. Reasons for this disappearance could not be explained. Now, for Matt Mullen's ag bio biz blog. I just stumbled upon this blog today and it is another good one based on the agriculture biotech industry. Mr. Mullen is "a magazine editor of publications providing growers of row crops with production and business information" and his writings show it. This is one to put on regular rotation. For those of you with interests in Tobacco, and some of my readers are, he also authors the Tobacco Farm Blog. Enjoy!