Abstract
The flow of transgenes into landraces and wild relatives is an important biosafety concern. The case of transgene flow into local maize varieties in Mexico (the center of origin of maize) has been intensively debated over the past 15 years, including legal, political, and environmental disputes fanned by the existence of a significant scientific controversy over the methods used for the detection of transgenes. The use of diverse approaches and a lack of harmonized methods specific to the detection and monitoring of transgenes in landraces have generated both positive and negative results regarding contamination of Mexican maize with genetically modified material over the years. In this paper, we revisit the case of transgene contamination in Mexican maize and present a novel research approach based on socio‐biological analysis of contrasting communities and seed management systems. Two communities were used to investigate how different social and biological factors can affect transgene flow and impact transgene spread in Mexico. Our results show the presence of transgenes in one community and thus support the position that transgenes are highly likely to be present in Mexican maize landraces. However, our work also demonstrates that the extent and frequency with which transgenes can be found will significantly depend on the societal characteristics and seed management systems of the local communities. Therefore, we argue that future analysis of transgene presence should include social research on the seed management practices in the sampling area so that more robust and comprehensive understandings and conclusions can be drawn.
Highlights
We revisit the case of transgene contamination in Mexican maize and present a novel research approach based on socio-biological analysis of contrasting communities and seed management systems
Our results show the presence of transgenes in one community and support the position that transgenes are highly likely to be present in Mexican maize landraces
Our study revisited the case of transgene flow into Mexican maize and used a novel approach based on socio-biological analysis of contrasting farmer communities and seed management systems to investigate how different social and biological factors may affect the results of transgene detection and impact the spread of transgenes in Mexico
Summary
In order to understand the influence of seed management systems on the presence and flow of transgenes in maize in Mexico, this study employed a mixed method approach combining both natural and social science research methods across two different indigenous communities in the region of Oaxaca This included conducting a social survey of volunteer farmers, supplemented by semistructured interviews and attendance at communitarian meetings, as well as environmental sampling and detection testing of the seed lots from the same volunteer farmers surveyed and interviewed, as well as from the local markets and stores where farmers purchase seed and/or grain. As some of our farmers informed us during the interviews that they sometimes bought seed at neighboring markets outside their community or grain at the local stores (e.g., DICONSA), which they sometimes planted as seed, we decided to sample these sources of seed flow into the communities. The other seed lots that tested positive were from local stores and markets (Samples 9 and 10) that are sources of seed for many farmers in that community
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