Biotech Updates

USDA APHIS Releases EA and PPRA of MON 87403 for Public Comment and Review

July 22, 2015

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) released the draft environment assessment (EA) and preliminary plant pest risk assessment (PPRA) of genetically engineered corn (MON 87403) developed by Monsanto. The documents are available for public comment and review from July 21 to August 20, 2015, as a response to the developer's petition to deregulate the GE corn.

The GE corn under review was developed to have increased ear biomass at the early reproductive stage compared to conventional corn varieties. A gene (AtHB17) from Arabidopsis was inserted to corn through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to confer desired trait. Multiple years of field testing exhibited that the GE corn produced more yield than the control at majority of locations tested.

The EA, PPRA, and Federal Register Notice are available at the USDA APHIS website.