Cyanide-Producing GM Grass Linked To Texas Cattle Deaths

Peristaltic writes "Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are trying to determine if an unexpected mutation in a popular GM grass, Tifton 85, is responsible for the sudden deaths of a small herd of cattle in Elgin, Texas three weeks ago. The grass has been used for grazing since 1992 without incident, however after a severe drought last year in Texas, the grass started producing cyanide in sufficient quantities to kill a small herd of cattle in Elgin, Texas. Testing has found the cyanide-producing grass in nearby fields as well." Update: 06/23 22:59 GMT by T : Reader Jon Cousins writes with a correction that means the headline above is inaccurate for including "GM." Tifton 85, he writes, is "absolutely not genetically modified. It's a conventionally bred hybrid."

Comments

Re:Ok, now THAT is a cool sci-fi story

[JWSmythe]

Many grasses produce cyanid

And most grassy fields don't kill a herd of livestock.

Plus this is not a GM plant, it's a hybrid.

    Since you must be a botanist familiar with grass, can you follow the trail back for me? Did you work with Dr. Burton on it? All I've found is that is a hybrid of PI-290884 and Tifton 68. By the names, I assume they're also hybrid or GM. What is the lineage all the way back to native plants?