New corn technology: scientists are all eyes and ears.

Corn and other crops contaminated with the fungus Aspergillus flavus give off a carcinogenic by-product called aflatoxin, which is blamed for high rates of liver cancer in Asia and Africa, where rice and corn are food staples. In the United States, aflatoxin's major threat is to farm animals, which can get sick or even die from consuming too much of the toxin. Scientists are working on ways to keep the deadly toxin out of the food supply. Two techniques under development identify aflatoxin-tainted corn by using infrared light to elicit telltale sounds and light from contaminated kernels. Other scientists hope to protect corn from A. flavus in the first place by designing genetically engineered aflatoxin-resistant grain species and by working with drugs such as oltipraz that reportedly detoxify aflatoxin already in the body.