IT SOUNDS like a trick worthy of the gene police in Gattaca, but hiding a bar code in DNA could prove very valuable for identifying genetically modified plants. Spotting modified plants at present is a tough job because you need to know what has been added before you know what to look for (see “Britain wants genetically modified food to have DNA bar codes”). With a standard bar code, a single test would show that a plant had been modified.
DNA in the bar code would encode the name of the plant’s creator, say, and details of the plant.…
