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.
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