Genetically modified crops may pass helpful traits to weeds, study finds 'For the first time, researchers have shown that a gene artificially inserted into crop plants to fend off pests can migrate to weeds in a natural environment and make the weeds stronger. Scientists studied genetically engineered sunflowers - those modified with a gene that produces a chemical toxic to certain insects - to see what happened when these foreign genes, called transgenes, were inadvertently passed along to weedy relatives' ( Ohio State ) See also this abstract, and this blog entry from last month.LINKS http://www.hullocentral.demon.co.uk/site/anfin.htm