Gene crop charges

Monsanto looks set to become the first biotechnology company to face criminal
prosecution in Britain for breaching rules on genetically engineered crop
plants. As New Scientist went to press, the Health and Safety Executive
was considering pressing charges against the company over its field trials of
genetically engineered oilseed rape in Rothwell, Lincolnshire. HSE inspectors
judged the “buffer zone” separating the plot from other rape plants to be too narrow
(This Week, 4 April, p 4).