CRYSTAL -- Worldwide protests of the use of genetically modified foods have forced the closure of the NatureMark facility in Crystal, [Maine] a transgenetic laboratory and greenhouse operation owned by Monsanto that first opened in late 1992. ...

The operation in Crystal was involved in the growing of genetically modified seed potatoes that would repel Colorado potato beetles, which eat the leaves of potato plants. ...

Each of the plants contained a gene from the microbe Bacillus thuringiensis (abbreviated as Bt), a common soil microbe that was introduced into a potato chromosome in a process known as transgenetics.

When the potato cell carrying the Bt chromosome is grown into a new plant, the entire plant is able to produce the Bt protein, which controls the Colorado potato beetle.

The beetle has to eat only a small portion of a leaf before the ingested Bt protein causes its digestive system to malfunction. The beetle then can't eat, and it dies. ..

Last November, the company [McCain] announced it would no longer buy genetically altered potatoes because of what a spokesman said was months of pressure from consumers who feared that genetic modifications to potatoes used for french fries and other processed potato products could damage the environment and human health.

That decision has spilled over into Maine, where farmers most likely won't be planting any of the modified seed this year. ...

Other companies such as Gerber and H.J. Heinz Co. have stopped using produce from genetically modified plants in their baby foods.

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