Editing Bacillus thuringiensis (section)

====Wild maize genetic mixing====
A study published in ''Nature'' in 2001 reported Bt-containing maize genes were found in maize in its center of origin, [[Oaxaca]], Mexico.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Quist D, Chapela IH | title = Transgenic DNA introgressed into traditional maize landraces in Oaxaca, Mexico | journal = Nature | volume = 414 | issue = 6863 | pages = 541–3 | date = November 2001 | pmid = 11734853 | doi = 10.1038/35107068 | bibcode = 2001Natur.414..541Q | s2cid = 4403182 }}</ref> Another ''Nature'' paper published in 2002 claimed that the previous paper's conclusion was the result of an [[Artifact (error)|artifact]] caused by an [[inverse polymerase chain reaction]] and that "the evidence available is not sufficient to justify the publication of the original paper."<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kaplinsky N, Braun D, Lisch D, Hay A, Hake S, Freeling M | title = Biodiversity (Communications arising): maize transgene results in Mexico are artefacts | journal = Nature | volume = 416 | issue = 6881 | pages = 601–2; discussion 600, 602 | date = April 2002 | pmid = 11935145 | doi = 10.1038/nature739 | bibcode = 2002Natur.416..601K | s2cid = 195690886 }}</ref> A significant controversy happened over the paper and ''Nature''{{'}}s unprecedented notice.<ref name="pbs.org">{{Cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/now/science/genenature.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030220201414/https://www.pbs.org/now/science/genenature.html | archive-date = 20 February 2003 | title=Seeds of Conflict: NATURE Article Debate | work = NOW with Bill Moyers. Science & Health. | publisher = [[PBS]] }}</ref>

A subsequent large-scale study in 2005 failed to find any evidence of genetic mixing in Oaxaca.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ortiz-García S, Ezcurra E, Schoel B, Acevedo F, Soberón J, Snow AA | title = Absence of detectable transgenes in local landraces of maize in Oaxaca, Mexico (2003-2004) | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 102 | issue = 35 | pages = 12338–43 | date = August 2005 | pmid = 16093316 | pmc = 1184035 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0503356102 | bibcode = 2005PNAS..10212338O | jstor = 3376579 | doi-access = free }}</ref> A 2007 study found the "transgenic proteins expressed in maize were found in two (0.96%) of 208 samples from farmers' fields, located in two (8%) of 25 sampled communities." Mexico imports a substantial amount of maize from the U.S., and due to formal and informal seed networks among rural farmers, many potential routes are available for transgenic maize to enter into food and feed webs.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1890/1540-9295(2007)5[247:TPIMIT]2.0.CO;2 |year=2007 |volume=5 |pages=247–52 |title=Transgenic proteins in maize in the Soil Conservation area of Federal District, Mexico | vauthors = Serratos-Hernández J, Gómez-Olivares J, Salinas-Arreortua N, Buendía-Rodríguez E, Islas-Gutiérrez F, De-Ita A |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment |issue=5 |issn=1540-9295}}</ref> One study found small-scale (about 1%) introduction of transgenic sequences in sampled fields in Mexico; it did not find evidence for or against this introduced genetic material being inherited by the next generation of plants.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Piñeyro-Nelson A, Van Heerwaarden J, Perales HR, Serratos-Hernández JA, Rangel A, Hufford MB, Gepts P, Garay-Arroyo A, Rivera-Bustamante R, Alvarez-Buylla ER | title = Transgenes in Mexican maize: molecular evidence and methodological considerations for GMO detection in landrace populations | journal = Molecular Ecology | volume = 18 | issue = 4 | pages = 750–61 | date = February 2009 | pmid = 19143938 | pmc = 3001031 | doi = 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.03993.x | display-authors = 6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dalton R | title = Modified genes spread to local maize | journal = Nature | volume = 456 | issue = 7219 | pages = 149 | date = November 2008 | pmid = 19005518 | doi = 10.1038/456149a | doi-access = free }}</ref> That study was immediately criticized, with the reviewer writing, "Genetically, any given plant should be either non-transgenic or transgenic, therefore for leaf tissue of a single transgenic plant, a GMO level close to 100% is expected. In their study, the authors chose to classify leaf samples as transgenic despite GMO levels of about 0.1%. We contend that results such as these are incorrectly interpreted as positive and are more likely to be indicative of contamination in the laboratory."<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Schoel B, Fagan J | title = Insufficient evidence for the discovery of transgenes in Mexican landraces | journal = Molecular Ecology | volume = 18 | issue = 20 | pages = 4143–4; discussion 4145–50 | date = October 2009 | pmid = 19793201 | doi = 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04368.x | s2cid = 205362226 | doi-access = free }}</ref>