California exports 40 percent of its rice to Japan, which has among the world's strictest policies regarding genetically engineered food. California now risks losing $500 million if genetically modified rice crops from a Sacramento biotechnology company that is proposing to plant the nation's first commercial crop that's genetically engineered to produce a medicine. Although the concept of making drugs in rice may be new to some, I posted an article on this last year. These GMO crops are an accident waiting to happen. Hopefully the economic realities will wake up California before they pull the trigger on this one.
San Francisco Gate April 8, 2004