Weeds in a farmer’s fields can steal water, sunlight and nutrients from the crop and may result in reduced crop yields. Proteins can be introduced into crop plants to make them herbicide tolerant which allows farmers to control weeds with herbicides without impacting the crop. 

Dicamba mono-oxygenase (DMO), is the basis for dicamba-tolerant (DT) crops.  People and animals have a long history of safe exposure to DMO through a variety of foods and feeds, aquatic environments, soil bacteria and plants.  Slightly different forms of DMO have been used in different DT crops (soybean, cotton and corn) and people want to know if small differences in proteins can impact food and feed safety.  Extensive studies were conducted to help answer that question. The studies showed that none of these DMO proteins were similar to known allergens or other unsafe proteins. Like other safe dietary proteins, these three DMO proteins are readily degraded by heating and digested by stomach enzymes. These comprehensive safety assessments provide strong evidence that proteins of known functionality with slightly different amino acid sequences found in DT soybean, cotton and corn are equally safe for food and feed consumption.  The full journal article can be accessed here: bit.ly/2ciDKQx.