The US based company Corteva has genetically engineered a variety of maize using the gene editing technique CRISPR. 

This variety, known as waxy corn, originates in East and Southeast Asia where it is a major food crop. In the US it is a minor crop grown almost entirely for food starch and some industrial products. 

So far this waxy corn has been approved by Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile and the United States. It is the first genetically engineered crop from Corteva who is using the variant to test out the regulation of, and public response to, the new genetic engineering technique of CRISPR.

According to GRAIN, “A successful introduction in the US will set the stage for commercial cultivation and imports in other countries where regulations on GM crops and the new genome edited GM crops are still in flux.”

The biotechnology industry argues that gene editing should not be classified as genetic modification, and should not be regulated or labelled. This, however, deliberately ignores the risks and unexpected consequences from gene editing.

For the earth minute and the Sojourner Truth Show this is Theresa Church with Global Justice Ecology Project.