To the editor:

The British press and other media have, of late, published inaccurate information on genetically modified (GM) organisms often gleaned from second-hand reports fed to them by organizations with a wide range of motives and political agendas. I was therefore saddened to see that your journal has fallen into the same trap (Nature Biotechnology 17, 520, 1999).

Your report on "research from the University of Keele" on pollen flow was inaccurate; it appears that your reporter has not read the original report, since he would then have been able to ascribe it to the correct authors and understand the significance of the research.

In April 1999 there was an international conference on Gene Flow and Agriculture organized by the British Crop Protection Council at Keele1. This conference reviewed the wide range of research being conducted around the world on gene flow, particularly in relation to GM plants.

The particular research he referred to was conducted by myself and Evan Simpson at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany, Cambridge, UK. We have been engaged in studying the agronomic and environmental impact of GM crops for several years, primarily on behalf of government agencies and in collaboration with other UK and European institutes.

The paper referred to by your correspondent reported levels of cross-pollination occurring in different rapeseed varieties at different isolation distances from GM rapeseed. It noted (inter alia) that composite hybrid varieties, consisting of 80% male sterile plants, were pollinated at higher frequencies than fully fertile varieties. Experiments showed that cross-pollination at set distances was higher where little or no competing pollen from recipient plants was present. Composite rapeseed varieties are grown in northern Europe at present and it was important to identify that isolation requirements for these composite varieties (i.e. those consisting of a significant proportion of male sterile plants) may need to be greater than those for normal fully fertile varieties. This information is also important for isolation of non food rapeseed from food crops, or organic crops from GM crops.