The initiative to take journalists inside the trial site is part of a major PR offensive by the scientists and their backers to be open and transparent about the research - in an effort to explain its value to the public.

BBC: Fortress security for GM wheat trial

Yet the scientific value of Mr Chilingarov's expedition was negligible compared with its political value, says Lev Savatyugin of the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.

ECONOMIST: Ventures into the near-abroad