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In many cases they can never be recalled or contained. The probability that one or more of these releases could cause serious environmental harm increases, as more GE organisms are released.
Allison Snow, an ecologist from Ohio State University in the US, found that wild plants containing a gene for herbicide resistance produced just as many seeds and were able to compete successfully with their unmodified counterparts.
Scientists at the University of Chicago concluded that GE plants examined in field tests had a dramatically increased ability to outcross and transfer genes to non-GE plants.
The scientists compared rates of gene flow from two different kinds of herbicide-resistant mustard plant - one that was genetically engineered and the other produced by traditional breeding. Even though both varieties of mustard plant contained the same gene for herbicide resistance, the scientists found that GE plants were 20 times more likely to interbreed with related species when compared to traditionally bred plants. Why the engineering process appears to alter the rates of out-crossing, has not yet been established.
These plants could cross-pollinate with related species and contaminate the food supply, and could expose foraging animals, insects and seed-eating birds to a wide range of drugs, vaccines and chemicals.
Professor Richard Lewontin, Professor of Genetics of Harvard University in the US says, "An ecosystem—you can always intervene and change something in it, but there’s no way of knowing what all the downstream effects will be or how it might affect the environment."
"We have such a miserably poor understanding of how the organism develops from its DNA that I would be surprised if we don’t get one rude shock after another."
Breeding with natives
The commercial growing of GE crops carries a very real threat of the transfer of the ‘foreign’ gene(s) into wild native flora. Where the crop has been genetically engineered to tolerate the application of herbicides, the herbicide resistance property could be transferred to related wild species. This could result in the emergence of ’super-weeds’, which would be difficult to eradicate, causing serious problems for farmers. The likelihood of genetic pollution is particularly strong in the case of herbicide resistant canola, which is well known for its ability to cross-pollinate with wild relatives.Highly promiscuous
Research has shown that honeybees can transfer GE canola pollen up to 4 kilometres. Evidence also shows that hybrids resulting from GE contamination will not necessarily die out quickly, as is often suggested.Allison Snow, an ecologist from Ohio State University in the US, found that wild plants containing a gene for herbicide resistance produced just as many seeds and were able to compete successfully with their unmodified counterparts.
Scientists at the University of Chicago concluded that GE plants examined in field tests had a dramatically increased ability to outcross and transfer genes to non-GE plants.
The scientists compared rates of gene flow from two different kinds of herbicide-resistant mustard plant - one that was genetically engineered and the other produced by traditional breeding. Even though both varieties of mustard plant contained the same gene for herbicide resistance, the scientists found that GE plants were 20 times more likely to interbreed with related species when compared to traditionally bred plants. Why the engineering process appears to alter the rates of out-crossing, has not yet been established.
Contaminating the ecosystem
Crop plants are also being genetically engineered to produce pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals.These plants could cross-pollinate with related species and contaminate the food supply, and could expose foraging animals, insects and seed-eating birds to a wide range of drugs, vaccines and chemicals.
Professor Richard Lewontin, Professor of Genetics of Harvard University in the US says, "An ecosystem—you can always intervene and change something in it, but there’s no way of knowing what all the downstream effects will be or how it might affect the environment."
"We have such a miserably poor understanding of how the organism develops from its DNA that I would be surprised if we don’t get one rude shock after another."
