Genetic Crop Tests
AP FinancialDonnerstag, 4. November 1999 12:03:00
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.@bThe information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- A North Dakota company has started testing
seeds and crops to verify they have not been genetically changed
through biotechnology.
Consumer fears have led some major grain buying companies to
offer premiums for non-altered crops and to segregate the crops
they buy.
"It's something new and it's not going to go away," said Steve
Adams, owner of the North Dakota Grain Inspection Service in Fargo.
Adams' company started testing soybeans two weeks ago with a
simple positive-negative test that costs about $12 per sample.
So far, Adams' tests only verify that soybeans being bought and
sold are not Roundup-ready, or made immune to the herbicide
Roundup.
Soybeans are ground, mixed with water and a buffer agent. Then
the solution is placed in a tube and a wick-like detector is
inserted. One red line appears on the wick if the test is negative.
Two lines indicate a Roundup-ready soybean.
The tests are very sensitive and could accurately detect
Roundup-ready genes if only one bean in 1,000 had them, Adams said.
He predicts the testing eventually will become more specific.
"The first vomitoxin tests were simply positive or negative. I
think the grain trade is eventually going to want to know the
percentage of Roundup-ready beans in a sample," he said.
Adams said he has been told that within weeks there will be
tests for corn with the corn borer-resistant "Bt" transgene, as
well as tests for high-oil corn, and for Roundup-ready corn.
"I think most of the elevators who buy the soybeans take the
word of the farmer," Adams says. "Unfortunately the farmer
sometimes doesn't know, or the trucker doesn't know. Or, someone
does know and doesn't want to say."
Minnesota started using genetic tests a month ago at
ship-loading docks in Duluth, Adams said. Some elevators in the
region are offering them.