On De Loose

Greenpeace U.K. is in a tizzy because of mysterious DNA found in Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans, the world's most widely grown genetically engineered crop. The unexpected string of DNA, which was found by Belgian government and university scientists, is located next to the corn's inserted gene, provoking the enviro group to accuse Monsanto of not knowing as much about its product as it should. Greenpeace scientist Janet Cotter-Howells said, "I don't think you can come out and say it's unsafe. You can just say it's unknown whether it's safe or not." One of the Belgian scientists, Marc De Loose from the Center for Agricultural Research, said there was no evidence that the unknown DNA could lead to harmful effects.