Ignacio Chapela - Transgene Research

Transgene Research

Chapela was co-author (with his graduate student, David Quist) of a controversial 2001 Nature paper about the flow of transgenes in to wild Mexican maize. Controversy over the accuracy of the claims and methodological concerns about the paper led to an editor's note saying there was insufficient evidence to justify the original publication. Advocates of GM crops widely, and erroneously, called this a retraction.

A subsequent study performed in 2003–2004 at two independent labs, found no evidence of transgenic DNA in Mexican maize. However, a more recent study published in the February 2009 issue of Molecular Ecology confirmed the presence of transgenic DNA in Mexican maize. The study, however, did not confirm an important conclusion from the 2001 Nature paper, namely, that the transgene-contaminated corn has replicated. Chapela is reported to have stated in response to the study, "It is good to see this...but it took seven years."