Feature story - November 14, 2006
Have you ever had to contain a raging wildfire in a forest? Our guess is probably not, but you can certainly imagine how fast fire can spread through a dry spruce forest. Now imagine trying to contain the tiny dust that is spruce pollen, which can travel 3000km on the winds. Now imagine that the spruce trees - and thus the pollen they are spreading - has been genetically modified, and you really don't know what the effects on the environment will be.
Spruce is one of the species of trees that is being genetically engineered.
Despite the risks, the Canadian government is testing
genetically engineered spruce trees in Quebec - by growing them
outside! It seems to us that before you plant trees that will
spread GE pollen hundreds of miles, you had better know what the
risks are. Once the pollen has been released, there is no 'calling
it back'. That is why Greenpeace is calling for a ban on field
trials of GE trees.