Mexico Experts Say There Is A Hidden Danger In Genetically Modified Cotton

Experts say wild cotton in Mexico has been contaminated by genetically modified materials, posing a risk to biodiversity.

This worrisome conclusion comes from a research done by six scientists from University of Nacional Autonoma Mexico (UNAM) and the National Committee of knowledge biodiversity (CONABIO), published in the molecular ecology of early this month, an international journal.

In their article, "the recent long distance pgene flow into wild populations is in line with the historical pattern of cotton (upland cotton Gossypium hirsutum) gene flow in its origin center". Experts have shown that cotton genes and pgenes can be pferred across thousands of kilometers through seeds.

They also found that the rapid development of pgenic cotton varieties from Mexico (artificially pferring genes from one species to another) is unpredictable.

The genetic diversity of wild populations is very high, and the genetic diversity of cultivated cotton is very low.

Gene flow can reduce the difference among flora, but we don't know what kind of impact it may have, "says Anna Ana Wegier, head of UNAM Ecology Research Institute and national forest, agriculture and animal husbandry research (INIFAP).

"What we are seeing is the impact of 15 years of planting genetically modified crops on biodiversity," she said.

Because of the collapse of international market prices and the growth advantage of synthetic fibers, cotton cultivation has declined.

In order to promote cotton cultivation, in 1996, the government of Mexico authorized the planting of pgenic cotton, but did not pay attention to the study of biological interactions in Mexico.

According to the report of the Ministry of agriculture of Mexico, the commercial scale of pgenic cotton has been over 100 thousand hectares since 2009, and its output is 500 thousand tons.

Cottonseed is mainly used for oil extraction, animal feed, and pportation of animal feed products, which can explain how the seeds of genetically modified plants arrive.

Six authors collected 336 crops from 36 populations between 2002 and 2008.

They also analyzed the seeds of three Mexico regions, Texas and Virginia, from Argentina, Brazil, India and Egypt.

Of the 270 cultivars analyzed, 66 showed positive pgenes.

Scientists found that in early 1996 and early 2008, the Mexico government issued 5985 licenses for the planting of genetically modified cotton, of which 1.4% was located in the two wild cotton population allocation area, which is called the interaction set of the same species population.

In addition, 4.2% of authorized genetically modified crops are planted within three km radius of three clusters.

The remaining 94.4% are 300 kilometers away from the wild cotton collection.

As the situation of maize has happened in China, wild plant pollution may also appear on other genetically modified crops. This phenomenon is slowly spreading in Latin American countries.

16000 beekeepers in the southeastern Yucatan Peninsula are concerned about the 30000 hectares of Genetically Modified Soybeans Planted by the US agricultural complex giant Monsanto.

Monsanto

"In the soybean fields, bees become very aggressive, they do not return to the hive, but they die on the way back, and glyphosate crops damage their viscera," said Pablo, Pablo Duarte, a local coordinator of the National Federation of farmers' organizations in the autonomous region.

"What we are worried about is that not only bees die, but we can't sell our honey," he said.

In Mexico, there are about 45 thousand bee farmers collecting about 56000 tons of honey each year.

Their main

But European Court judges have banned the sale of honey contaminated with unauthorized GM pollen.

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The first batch of pgenic soybean fields were evaluated in 2008.

At present, 60000 hectares of Mexico soil are producing genetically modified soybeans.

The government has received 110 requests for trial planting of genetically modified maize. Since 2009, 11 applications for pilot scale projects have been received, which is a process before commercialization.

The Ministry of Agriculture authorized 67 experimental plots, covering an area of 70 hectares, and at least 12 tested pgenic wheat fields in the northern part of the country.

In 2005, the biosafety law of the GMO states that before the exchange of GM crops is allowed, the seed origin center must be defined.

The Greenpeace environmental monitoring report says 6 of the 32 states in Mexico are planting genetically modified maize and importing the genetically modified seeds of the staple grain, which has a profound symbolic significance in the Central American culture from central Mexico to Costa Rica.

Weigel is also a member of the UCCS. At present, she is studying the genetics of avocado and green tomatoes. She said: "each case needs to be analyzed by the highest scientific standards.

The director of the research department said: "so far, no scientific decision has been made in Mexico, but now we have the opportunity to make a decision based on the precautionary principle (which should avoid activities that are potentially potentially damaging, until proven harmless).

Although seeds are unlikely to be pferred from genetically modified crops, the study warns that once one or several genetically modified individuals are spread to specific wild populations, the pollen they produce may fertilize the wild plants.

The research report said: "because pgenes are inserted into the nuclear genome, they can be spread through pollen or seeds."

Pablo warned: "genetically modified organisms will pollute all our species, so we will have to rely on the seeds of big companies."

He said: "if we lose our native seeds, then we will have no seeds to grow.

That's why we asked the government to stop planting genetically modified corn and soybeans.