A TYPE of maize that won’t breed with other strains could help organic
farmers keep their fields free from contamination with genetically modified
crops. The technology could also help prevent food crops from mingling with
plants not intended for human consumption.
Until now, organic farmers have had to rely on buffer zones to prevent pollen
from modified crops fertilising their plants. But Jerry Kermicle and his
colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, discovered that teosinte, a
wild cousin of maize, has a natural talent for blocking foreign genes. Through
conventional breeding, Kermicle’s team has developed corn that resists
pollination…
