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Page 26 | Abby's Magazine - www.AbbysHealthAndNutrition.com F or nearly 15 years, Frank Kutka has been working to save organic corn from contamination by genetically modified corn. Kutka, a plant breeder, has been developing what he calls "Organic Ready" corn varieties that have the ability to prevent cross-pollination from GM corn. "We need corn that organic farmers can grow without fear of GMO contamination," says Kutka, who is in the fourth year of a five- year breeding project funded by the Organic Farming Research Foundation. Gametophytic (Self) Incompatibility Kutka faces a huge challenge. Each year US farmers plant GM corn on millions of acres; 93 percent of this year's corn crop is GM. Corn cross- pollinates with other corn plants. Each corn plant produces millions of pollen grains that are carried by the wind to other corn plants where they pollinate the plant's silks and produce kernels. e problem is that GM corn can pass its transgenes during cross-pollination, and can contaminate organic or non-GMO corn. Kutka's research focuses on naturally occurring traits found in popcorns and the ancient grain teosinte that make it difficult for GM pollen to enter the corn silks, thus preventing cross-pollination. e trait is known as gametophytic [or self ] incompatibility or Ga1S, and is not a new discovery, according to Kutka. "e trait has been known and used for decades. It was first used in popcorn in the 1950s and then in white corn varieties in the 1970s. It's not a perfect system, but it greatly reduces the risk of out-crossing," he says. Kutka is also working with another pollen block trait—Ga2S, which is found in teosinte, an ancestor of maize. While this project began in 2011, Kutka has been working on pollen blocking traits since 2001 when he was a graduate student at Cornell University. Kutka calls the new corn varieties "Organic Ready" as a play on Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" GM crops. GMOs Threaten Organic and Non-GMO Corn GMOs are prohibited in organic production under the USDA National Organic Program, but there are no regulations in place to protect farmers against accidental contamination from the pollen of GM corn. Organic and non-GMO farmers have suffered economic losses when their corn tested positive for GMOs and was rejected by grain buyers. A recent survey of organic farmers from 17 states, predominantly in the Midwest, shows 67 percent planned to delay planting corn this year so their crops would pollinate later than their neighbors' GM corn, at an average cost of $16,000. e problem is also impacting heirloom seed companies; Missouri-based Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has lost one- half of its heirloom varieties to GMO contamination. at's why Kutka feels a sense of urgency to his work. He hopes to release some seed varieties of open pollinated Organic Ready in 2015. "I'm working on developing varieties that hopefully will work in a lot of different locations in the US," he says. Kutka is working with another corn breeder, Dave Christensen, to breed the pollen-blocking trait into a Organic Ready: Protecting Organic Corn from GMO Contamination Guest article by Ken Roseboro

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