The New York Times has just published an article about a startling new source of GMO contamination: genetically engineered lawns. Thanks to John Perrine of UC Berkeley for bringing this to my attention.

Genes From Engineered Grass Spread for Miles, Study Finds

Teak Phillips/St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A test plot of the herbicide-resistant strain of creeping bentgrass last spring at the St. Louis Country Club.

By Andrew Pollack

A new study shows that genes from genetically engineered grass can spread much farther than previously known, a finding that raises questions about the straying of other plants altered through biotechnology and that could hurt the efforts of two companies to win approval for the first bioengineered grass.

The two companies, Monsanto and Scotts, have developed a strain of creeping bentgrass for use on golf courses that is resistant to the widely used herbicide Roundup. The altered plants would allow groundskeepers to spray the herbicide on their greens and fairways to kill weeds while leaving the grass unscathed.