China is building a storehouse of genetically modified crop strains for future use. Large-scale field trials are going on all over the country, but public data is scant. A number of test fields of wheat have recently been harvested. Work includes planting drought-resistant varieties of wheat. Other institutions are making similar progress on drought-resistant corn. But the scientists feel that they must hide the locations of the trials. (They have reason to worry. 3 years ago Australian Greenpeace activists destroyed a field of GM wheat plants; last year, activists in the Philippines destroyed a test plot of golden rice.) While there is no central public repository of field trial data, it is safe to assume that the plantings are widespread—and productive.

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