genetically modified (Page 9)

A fake meat that is made from fungus, but tastes like chicken (of course) has arrived in U.S. supermarkets. Known as mycoprotein, it is marketed under the trade name Quorn (pronounced kworn) and made into a variety of fake foods, including chicken-like nuggets, lasagna and fettuccine Alfredo and an alternative to ground beef called ?grounds.?

?It?s wonderful as far as consumers are concerned,? says Leslie Bonci, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who?s tried it. ?It?s a lot of protein for a minimal amount of calories and three to four grams of fiber.?
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Japanese scientist Akira Iritani has implanted spinach genes in pigs. This is the first time that plant genes have been successfully transplanted into an animal.

The pigs contain a gene called FAD2, which converts saturated fat into an unsaturated fat called linoleic acid. Iritani, of Kinki University in western Japan, says the genetically modified pigs contain 20 per cent less saturated fat than normal pigs, so they?re healthier to eat. ?I know genetically-modified food has met with poor public acceptance, but I hope safety tests will be conducted to make people feel like eating the pork for the sake of their health,? says Iritani.
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Monsanto has started a multi-million-dollar research and breeding program to create a strain of corn that resists moisture. These can then be made into cornflakes that won?t get soggy when you pour milk in the bowl.They want to discover plant genes that produce high levels of wax, then transfer that quality into corn grown for breakfast cereals.

?The idea of breakfast cereals which have a high wax content is not new,? says Colin Merritt, a biotechnology development manager for Monsanto. ?Manufacturers add plant waxes to try to stop the cereal soaking up milk and going soggy. But they are not terribly effective. Our idea is to set up a breeding program to produce a more waxy corn in the first place.?
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The journal ?Nature? reports that DNA from genetically modified corn has been found in wild corn growing on remote mountains in Mexico, indicating that GM crops are threatening the diversity of native plants.

The wild corn was growing around 62 miles from the nearest industrially farmed crops. Mexico has not allowed GM corn to be planted since 1998 but allows the import of GM crops for consumption.

Ignacio Chapela and David Quist of the University of California in Berkeley compared wild corn from the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca mountains in Mexico with GM varieties from the Monsanto company and with samples of other corn known to be uncontaminated. They found that some of the wild samples were contaminated with telltale sections of DNA from GM crops.
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