No more hide and seek

A small victory in a current court case may blow some of the secrecy surrounding experiements with "biopharmaceutical" crops in the U.S.

The USDA, in a court case still ongoing in Honolulu, has been forced to disclose the location of pharmaceutical crops -- bioengineered crops that are used to produce medicine or industrial products. A group of 11 environmental organizations brought the suit in 2003, concerned that the mysterious pharma crops (planted in 2002) could contaminate local crops or native plants on the islands.

While companies such as Monsanto are loathe to disclose the locations of test crops over "security concerns," other companies are paying big bucks to cover up serious mistakes. A Texas biotech company called ProdiGene had to pay a $250,000 fine on top of forking over $3 million for contaminating half a million bushels of soybeans with bio corn it had engineered to produce an experimental pig vaccine.