Genetically Modified Plants and the Environment

Biodiversity
Agricultural practices always have an effect on the diversity of wild plants found on the farm. Does growing certain genetically modified crops compromise biodiversity?

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Effects on insects, spiders, and other animals
Genetic engineering has given plants a new way to defend themselves. When corn borer caterpillars start feeding on Bt maize, they soon die off, sparing the crop damage from one of its worst pests. Finding out if other organisms could become innocent victims is an important question addressed by environmental safety research.

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Out-crossing: The spread of novel genes
It’s conceivable that an herbicide tolerance gene in a GM crop could make its way into other plants. This could make for weeds that are even more difficult for farmers to manage. Is this process already happening?

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Out-crossing requires a compatible partner
Not all crops have wild relatives in Europe. Rapeseed does – maize, however, does not. Which crops could spread their genes?

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House arrest for foreign genes
Farms of the future: GM plants could end up producing some of our most valuable pharmaceuticals. If plants like this are ever grown in the open, the genes responsible for producing novel active ingredients should under no circumstances find their way to other plants. How will this be kept from happening?

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Crop specific information
Every crop has its own "biology", which means each crop has its own relationship to the environment. The likelihood of out-crossing or escaping cultivation vary considerably from crop to crop. Aspects of important crops that are critical for environmental risk assessment are presented below.

Maize

Potato

Sugar beet

Rapeseed/Canola

Cotton

Soybean

Wheat

Rice

Gene transfer to microorganisms
It is theoretically possible that novel genes in GM plants could be taken up by microorganisms. This might occur when plants rot or when genetic material lands on surfaces heavily populated with microorganisms. But how common is this process, and what could be its outcomes?

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