In a village outside Edinburgh, there is doubt that a genetically modified crop being grown is actually the one licensed by the government. Steven Dunbar, a medical investigator with Sci-Med is sent to investigate, but finds that the farmer who made the complaints, Thomas Rafferty, is a well known drunk. Rafferty has also applied for accreditation as an organic farmer, with the backing of two venture capitalists — who turn out to be ex-SAS, and possibly still working for the government in some capacity. As Steven investigates further his own life comes under threat, as does the survival of the village, and he must band together with his few allies to solve the mystery of the original complaint and the ever larger picture which slowly becomes clearer