Access

Published online 2 April 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.729

News

Transgenic crops can persist for ten years

Genetically modified oilseed rape springs up a decade after trial crop was sown.

Transgenic oilseed rape can survive and produce plants as much as a decade after it was sown, according to a study done in Sweden.

The discovery that transgenic seeds can survive and germinate on farmland for this length of time raises fresh questions about how to monitor genetically modified (GM) crops.

Comments

Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email webadmin@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.

  • http://newsroom.msu.edu/site/indexer/672/content.htm (120-year weed seed viability). "some of the seeds will remain viable for an awfully long time," head of North Wyke Research in Devon, UK. Res ipsa loquitur.

    • 02 Apr, 2008
    • Posted by: "Uncle Al" Schwartz