A multimillion-dollar project involving genetically modified food has been scrapped in Australia because an altered pea produced lung inflammation in mice.
Although the discovery will raise new questions about the safety of genetic modification, supporters told the Brisbane Courier-Mail the find demonstrates that current safeguards work.
Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization has spend approximately $5 million during the past 10 years testing techniques to make peas and beans both pest and disease resistant by introducing alpha-amylase inhibitor protein.
But CSIRO dropped the project after scientists in Canberra determined the GM peas caused an immune response and resulting lung inflammation in lab mice.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
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