GM coca plants reportedly found in Colombia

Cocaine is produced from the coca plant, Erythroxylum coca Copyright: Public domain

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>GM coca plants reportedly found in Colombia</h1>
<h4></h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p><P>Colombian drug producers are reported to have genetically modified coca plants to boost production of cocaine. According to a report seen by the British newspaper <em>Financial Times</em>, Colombian officials have found coca plants producing four times more of the drug’s active chemical than normal plants growing in the north of the country. The <em>Financial Times</em> says the plants have also been modified to resist herbicides sprayed by US and Colombian anti-drug operations.</P><br />
<P>Colombian scientists and US officials say that there is no evidence that the plants have been genetically modified. They suggest that yields are higher because of increased use of fertiliser. </P><br />
<P>According to statistics from the Colombian government, the area on which coca is grown has halved since 2000. Despite this, the level of the drug’s production seems to have been maintained.</P><br />
<P><a  href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4076525.stm" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/tracking/external/'+this.href);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to full BBC Online news story</A></P></p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/gm-coca-plants-reportedly-found-in-colombia/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/global/news/gm-coca-plants-reportedly-found-in-colombia/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

Colombian drug producers are reported to have genetically modified coca plants to boost production of cocaine. According to a report seen by the British newspaper Financial Times, Colombian officials have found coca plants producing four times more of the drug’s active chemical than normal plants growing in the north of the country. The Financial Times says the plants have also been modified to resist herbicides sprayed by US and Colombian anti-drug operations.

Colombian scientists and US officials say that there is no evidence that the plants have been genetically modified. They suggest that yields are higher because of increased use of fertiliser.

According to statistics from the Colombian government, the area on which coca is grown has halved since 2000. Despite this, the level of the drug’s production seems to have been maintained.

Link to full BBC Online news story