GM Crop Researchers in Britain Complain About High Security Costs

Protecting field trials of genetically modified crops from vandalism has become the largest cost for U.K. scientists studying the organisms. A Leeds University scientist said one trial that cost £25,000 had a “six-figure” bill for security. Activists have vandalized numerous trials, prompting officials to install 24-hour security and fences at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. There has been a steep drop in GM trials in the U.K., said a researcher at Reading University, with only a single application last year, while there are about 1,000 trials a year in the U.S. GM crops are widespread in North and South America but face resistance in Britain, where concerns of food safety and environmental impact fuel an ongoing debate.