[IN THE NEWS] The Great Escape

One of the greatest fears about Genetically Modified Organisms (both plants and animals), is that, one day, they might escape into the wild and taint the wild non-modified breeds. Well, it's happened: [newscientist.com]

"It's official: genes from genetically modified corn have escaped into wild varieties in rural Mexico. A new study resolves a long-running controversy over the spread of GM genes and suggests that detecting such escapes may be tougher than previously thought."

This has gotten me to thinking about how future gengineers might detect and track escaped GMOs. Enter the Gene-Tracker.

As soon as I read the New Scientist article, I had this idea of genetically augmented bloodhounds that could smell GMO plants and animals, much like some animals are supposed to be able to sense cancer and illness in people.

For more information in the GMO debate, visit these sites:

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/
• http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/sakko.html