GM peas cause allergies in mice - project stopped
A ten year project to develop genetically modified peas, by adding a protein from beans that causes them to be resistant to pea weevil pests, has been abandoned after it was shown that although the protein alone does not cause an allergic reaction in mice or people, the treated peas cause a lung allergy in mice. Researchers think the allergy is caused by subtle differences in the structure of the protein after it is introduced into the peas.
(A similar experiment had to be halted in the early 1990’s when researchers at a company called Pioneer Hi-Bred International engineered a more nutritious strain of soya bean for use in cattle feed by adding a gene taken from brazil nuts. It was considered possible that the nut protein could enter the human food chain and after it was discovered that the modification was likely to trigger a major attack in people with brazil nut allergies, the project was stopped.)