Seed firms deny access to transgene

By: Rex Dalton

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<h1>Seed firms deny access to transgene</h1>
<h4>By: Rex Dalton</h4>
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<p>Two major US-based seed companies this week stand accused of hindering attempts to assess whether genetically modified sunflowers can turn their wild counterparts into ‘superweeds’.<BR><BR>A team led by Allison Snow at Ohio State University in Columbus has uncovered preliminary evidence that a transgene that confers insect resistance can increase the number of seeds produced by wild sunflowers, and could allow the wild plants to proliferate as weeds.<BR><BR>But Pioneer Hi-Bred International and Dow AgroSciences have blocked a follow-up study by refusing to allow the team access to either the transgene or seeds from the earlier study. Although such a refusal is unusual, a similar situation recently confronted a plant geneticist from a leading US research university, who wanted to carry out an evolutionary study of Mexican maize. <BR><BR><a href="http://www.nature.com/login/scidev_login.taf?ref=/nature/journal/v419/n6908/full/419655a_fs.html" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/tracking/external/'+this.href);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to full <em>Nature</em> news article</A><BR><BR>Reference: <em>Nature</em> 419, 655 (2002)</p>

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<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/seed-firms-deny-access-to-transgene/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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Two major US-based seed companies this week stand accused of hindering attempts to assess whether genetically modified sunflowers can turn their wild counterparts into ‘superweeds’.

A team led by Allison Snow at Ohio State University in Columbus has uncovered preliminary evidence that a transgene that confers insect resistance can increase the number of seeds produced by wild sunflowers, and could allow the wild plants to proliferate as weeds.

But Pioneer Hi-Bred International and Dow AgroSciences have blocked a follow-up study by refusing to allow the team access to either the transgene or seeds from the earlier study. Although such a refusal is unusual, a similar situation recently confronted a plant geneticist from a leading US research university, who wanted to carry out an evolutionary study of Mexican maize.

Link to full Nature news article

Reference: Nature 419, 655 (2002)