Independent lab tests have
confirmed a sample of 2003 foundation seed rice of the variety
Cheniere grown by the LSU
AgCenter contained a trace amount of genetic material from
LL601 – a Liberty Link genetically modified rice.
The test results received
Wednesday (Aug. 30), however, indicated Cheniere foundation seed
grown in 2005 appeared to be free of Liberty Link 601.
Those tests, validated by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grain Inspection, Packers and
Stockyards Administration, also indicated lots from 13 other
varieties currently in the LSU AgCenter’s foundation seed
program also appeared to be free of LL601. The other varieties
involved in the initial testing included Cocodrie, Cypress,
Trenasse, Pirogue, Bengal, Jupiter, Clearfield 131 and
Clearfield 161.
"We are conducting a thorough
inquiry to determine how this happened," said Dr. David Boethel,
LSU AgCenter vice chancellor for research. "We also are
cooperating closely with officials from the U. S. Department of
Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in
their investigation of the circumstances."
The LSU AgCenter submitted
samples to a testing lab soon after it was reported on Aug. 18
that trace amounts of LL601 were detected in samples of rice
taken from Riceland Foods.
The long-grain rice from
Riceland came from the 2005 crop held in storage facilities in
Arkansas and Missouri, according to the USDA, but the agency
said it didn't know where the rice was grown.
Liberty Link lines of rice were
developed by Bayer
CropScience – to allow the Liberty herbicide to be sprayed
on weeds without killing the rice plants. The USDA and the Food
and Drug Administration have approved two Liberty Link lines
similar to LL601, although those are not in commercial
production, and federal authorities have concluded that Liberty
Link rice poses no threat to food safety, human health or the
environment.
Field research on Liberty Link
was conducted in collaboration with Bayer CropScience at the LSU
AgCenter’s Rice Research Station near Crowley, La., from 1999
through 2001.
At the time, Liberty Link
technology was in the developmental stages. The research was
focused on addressing control of a perennial problem for farmers
known as red rice, which is the major weed problem facing rice
producers in the southern United States.
"Weed control is one of our
biggest problems, and we saw Liberty Link as one of several
solutions," said Dr. Ernest Girouard, a rice grower from Kaplan
who also is chairman of the Louisiana Rice Research Board.
"Weeds can make a significant impact on yields and can make the
difference between profitability and loss.
"Similar weed control
technologies have had a significant positive impact on
production of other crops."
According to Dr. Steve
Linscombe, a rice breeder who also serves as director of the LSU
AgCenter Rice Research Station, standards set by the USDA were
followed strictly in the research with LL601, and the field
plots of Liberty Link rice were isolated from other rice plants.
"In fact, we made sure the
distance between the Liberty Link plots and other conventional
rice plots was further apart than what the research protocols
required," Linscombe said. "When there was a minimum
requirement, we exceeded it."
Further safeguards in the
foundation seed protocols may also be what accounted for finding
LL601 material in just one of the rice lots tested this month.
"The test results we received
this week demonstrated that LL601 was found in the 2003 sample
of Cheniere seed but not in 2005 seed," Linscombe said. "That is
probably a result of the rigorous screening and selection
employed in our foundation seed program.
"It may mean it has been
eliminated from the variety, but further tests are needed,
including those being conducted by APHIS."
Commercial production of
genetically modified crops has become common. The USDA estimates
that more than 60 percent of corn, 83 percent of cotton and
almost 89 percent of soybeans grown in the United States this
year were genetically modified for various traits, including
herbicide tolerance and insect resistance.
"The LSU AgCenter’s foundation
seed program has been extremely important to the U.S. rice
industry. Over the years, the LSU AgCenter rice variety
development program has released varieties that are among the
most widely planted throughout the southern U.S. rice-growing
area," Boethel said.