Study finds no more genetically modified wheat

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — A study by Washington State University

has found no additional sign of the genetically modified wheat discovered at one

Oregon farm this spring.

The tests involved dozens of wheat varieties developed at

Washington State, the University of Idaho and Oregon State University, plus

varieties from Westbred/Monsanto and Limagrain Cereal Seeds, WSU said.

The time-consuming study included checking more than 20,000

individual plots, WSU said.

“WSU undertook its own investigation as part of its

commitment to serving Northwest farmers,” said James Moyer, director of WSU’s

Agricultural Research Center.

The study’s collaboration with the other universities and

the commercial seed companies was unprecedented and reflected the common goal of

trying to determine if the genetically modified wheat discovered in Oregon was

an isolated case or if the industry had a larger problem, Moyer said.

WSU’s data clearly suggests this was an isolated case, Moyer

said.

The tests involved growing seed, spraying infant plants with

the herbicide glyphosate and conducting molecular testing. None of the plants

showed the glyphosate resistance found in the fields of an as-yet-unnamed Oregon

farmer, WSU said.

Recently, the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service also said grain tests and interviews with several hundred farmers found

no other instances of herbicide-resistant crops beyond that one Oregon farm.

The modified wheat was discovered in May when field workers

at an eastern Oregon farm were clearing acres for the bare offseason and came

across a patch of wheat that didn’t belong. The workers sprayed it, but the

wheat wouldn’t die, so the farmer sent a sample to Oregon State University to

test.

A few weeks later, Oregon State wheat scientists discovered

that the wheat was genetically modified. They contacted the U.S. Department of

Agriculture, which ran more tests and confirmed the discovery.

USDA officials have said the modified wheat discovered in

the Oregon field is the same strain as a genetically modified wheat that was

designed to be herbicide-resistant and was legally tested by seed giant Monsanto

a decade ago but never approved.

Most of the corn and soybeans grown in the U.S. already are

modified, or genetically altered to include certain traits, often resistance to

herbicides or pesticides.

But the country’s wheat crop is not, as many wheat farmers

have shown reluctance to use genetically engineered seeds since their product

usually is consumed directly. Much of the corn and soybean crop is used as feed.

The USDA has said the wheat would be safe to eat if

consumed. But American consumers, like many consumers in Europe and Asia, have

shown an increasing interest in avoiding genetically modified foods.

The vast majority of Washington’s wheat is exported.