Genetically modified (GM) foods have been off the shelves and out of British fields for many years now. But the biotech lull appears to be over as scientists launch trial crops of GM wheat, adjusted to repel aphids, in Hertfordshire, England.
Researchers at the Rothamsted Research station have billed the strain as ‘eco-friendly GM’. Their experimental crop has been engineered to produce hormonal chemicals that scare aphids away with a pheromone. It sounds harmless enough on first reading, but campaigners highlight that synthetic gene sequences similar to those found in peppermint and cows are involved in this pheromone’s production process.
View the original article here: Rothamsted GM trial: Cow genes on toast anyone?
