Cops drop GM seed case

Confounded local police in Hainan province did not compile a case against Greenpeace activists for stealing genetically modified (GM) rice seeds as they couldn't determine their value, said a Huazhong Agricultural University professor.

Yan Jianbing, a professor in charge of the GM research base in Lingshui county, said the police were having difficulty calculating their value.

The Ministry of Agriculture issued a circular Sunday, requesting scientific institutions beef up security after the university reported that they stopped Greenpeace members from removing GM rice seeds from an experimental field.

Experts said that similar situations had rarely happened before in China and it would be difficult to provide evidence to prove agricultural intellectual property.