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crops did not raise any special safety considerations and permitted them to be widely grown (chapter 7 discusses these decisions in some detail). Among the more successful of such crops is corn engineered to contain a gene from a species of common soil bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The Bt gene provides the information needed to make a crystalline protein that is toxic to insect pests. Organic farmers have used the Bt protein toxin for decades in the form of a spray that washes off in the rain and decomposes rapidly. Agricultural biotechnologists thought the Bt toxin might work even better if it could be genetically engineered into the tissues of the plant. In the mid-1990s, a Belgian firm, Plant Genetic Systems, developed the trademarked StarLink variety of corn. StarLink contains the gene for a novel form of the Bt toxin—called Cry9C (for crystalline protein #9C)—that is especially effective against moths, corn borers, bollworms, cutworms, and other destructive insects in their larval stages.2

As a reporter from Fortune explained, corporate life at that time must have been difficult for the scientists who were developing StarLink. International joint ventures, mergers, and acquisitions put control of the technology successively in the hands of Belgian, German, and French companies, as illustrated in figure 1 (page 7). As StarLink corn was wending its way into the human food supply, the German company AgrEvo, itself formed by a joint venture of Hoechst and Schering, acquired Plant Genetic Systems. By September 2001, when the StarLink gene turned up in taco shells, that company had merged into Aventis CropScience, an agricultural division of the French drug company Aventis, which in turn had been formed by the merger of Hoechst with Rhône-Poulenc.3 This dizzyingly complex ownership history was typical of corporate dynamics at the turn of the twenty-first century.

TABLE 1. Key events in the political history of StarLink corn,* 1995 to 2002

Year

Month

Selected Events

1995

Plant Genetic Systems (Belgium) develops StarLink (Cry9C) variety of Bt corn. EPA grants registrations to other Bt varieties for 5 years.

1996

Companies plant non-StarLink Bt corn varieties.

1997

Plant Genetic Systems applies for EPA registration of StarLink. EPA grants permit for experimental plantings on 3,000 acres in 28 states.

1998

EPA limits registration for StarLink as a plant pesticide, permits use only for animal feed. Farmers plant StarLink on 10,000 acres in United States; registration transferred to AgrEvo.

1999

StarLink planted on 250,000 acres in United States. AgrEvo petitions for extension of registration to human food. EPA seeks comment on StarLink allergenicity.

2000

January to August

EPA panel reviews AgrEvo petition. StarLink is available from 15 seed companies in 33 varieties and is planted by 2,500 farmers on 300,000 acres; registration transferred to Aventis CropScience. Consumer group, Genetically Engineered Food Alert, announces campaign to require testing and labeling of genetically modified ingredients in food products. FDA receives reports of allergic reactions to StarLink corn products.

September

Genetically Engineered Food Alert reports evidence of StarLink gene (not protein) in Taco Bell taco shells, owned by Kraft Foods. Kraft confirms tests, recalls 2.5 million boxes. Aventis blocks further sales of seeds, announces agreement with government to buy remaining seeds to use for animal feed. Consumers file lawsuit claiming allergic reactions.

October

FDA confirms presence of StarLink in taco shells and announces plans to test food samples. Consumer groups identify StarLink in Safeway taco shells; Safeway issues recall. Aventis “voluntarily” withdraws EPA registration of StarLink. Mission Foods recalls 298 products distributed in the United States, Canada, and Korea; other companies also issue recalls. Kellogg closes U.S. factory because its supplier mills have no corn. Aventis petitions EPA to permit StarLink in existing foods on basis that amounts are too low to