U.S. Approves Corn Modified for Ethanol

A type of corn that is genetically engineered to make it easier to convert into ethanol was approved for commercial growing by the Department of Agriculture. Enogen is one of the first to be engineered solely for industrial purposes. The corn, which is called Enogen, is one of the first crops genetically engineered to contain a trait that influences use of the plant after harvest. Virtually all past Biotech crops have had traits like insect resistance, aimed at helping farmers more than manufacturers or consumers. Corn over the past ten years, has been under the microscope for possible alternate fossil fuels. The corn plant is cold intolerant meaning it must be planted in the spring so the root system can establish  fully and yield a large "successful" crop. Genetically modified corn are under scrutiny by the Food Industry due to the possibility of cross pollination. The industrial corn cross pollinating with the corn used in food products, would produce new strains of corn. The corn used for food is  modified to yield desirable traits, by altering this strain of plants the trickle down effect could occur throughout food companies.  I believe that ethanol being used for an alternative fuel is a great idea, but the sheer amount of corn that would need to be produced is astronomical.

[caption id="attachment_1274" align="alignleft" width="800" caption="Corn is easily mass produced."][/caption]