Who discovered genetically modified corn?

DNA from genetically modified corn, Chapela discovered, is contaminating local varieties developed over centuries in the remote mountains of Oaxaca. The implications are far-reaching: If GM corn can find its way into such an isolated region, scientists warn, then it can go anywhere. The discovery was especially startling because Mexico has banned the planting of GM corn for nearly four years while it considers how best to safeguard the natural varieties grown in Oaxaca. But instead of sounding the alarm over Chapela's findings, a government official named Fernando Ortiz Monasterio summoned him to the deserted building. There, to Chapela's surprise, Ortiz suggested he withhold his research.

Mexico's biosafety commission, Ortiz explained, was preparing new rules that would end the government moratorium on planting GM corn. "Everything is going fine, except we have this one hurdle," Chapela recalls Ortiz telling him, "and that one hurdle is you." The warning rattled Chapela.