Search Results for: Environment

Abstract: According to the current legal background for the regulation of genetically modified plants (GMPs) in Europe, an environmental risk assessment (ERA) has to be performed considering i) the crop plant, ii) the novel trait relating to its intended effect and phenotypic characteristics of the GM crop plant and iii) the receiving environment related to …

Abstract: Any organisation or institution charged with the objective of regulating the deliberate environmental release of genetically modified organisms so as to ‘protect the environment’ will face the difficult task of decision making in the face of a debate where the meaning of ‘the environment’ and what it takes to ‘protect it’ are contested. While …

Abstract: The Ecological Society of America has evaluated the ecological effects of current and potential uses of field‐released genetically engineered organisms (GEOs), as described in this Position Paper. Some GEOs could play a positive role in sustainable agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, bioremediation, and environmental management, both in developed and developing countries. However, deliberate or inadvertent releases …

Abstract: The assessment of the impacts of growing genetically modified (GM) crops remains a major political and scientific challenge in Europe. Concerns have been raised by the evidence of adverse and unexpected environmental effects and differing opinions on the outcomes of environmental risk assessments (ERA). The current regulatory system is hampered by insufficiently developed methods …

Abstract: Little is known about the consequences of releasing genetically engineered plants (GEP) into the environment. Using opine-producing GEP, we show that transgenic plants alter their biological environment, more precisely the root-associated bacterial populations. The alterations were both transgene-specific and target population-specific. Therefore, assessment studies on the introduction of a given transgene into a GEP …

Abstract: Antibiotic resistance rates have increased in both clinical and environmental bacteria over the past several decades. While the causes underlying these trends have been investigated in a clinical setting, little work has been done to estimate the contribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) derived from non-traditional sources like transgenic (GM) crops. The cultivation and …

Abstract: Genetically modified corn crops and suspensions of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are currently used to control pest infestations of insects of the Lepidoptera family. For this purpose, the cry1Ab gene coding for protein δ-endotoxin derived from B. thuringiensis kurstaki (Btk), which is highly toxic to these insects, was inserted and expressed in corn. The aims …

Abstract: Background and purpose. In Europe, the EU Directive 2001/18/EC lays out the main provisions of environmental risk assessment (ERA) of genetically modified (GM) organisms that are interpreted very differently by different stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to: (a) describe the current implementation of ERA of GM plants in the EU and its …

Abstract: Ecological damage, including global climate change, is commonly connected to practices and behaviors associated with economic activity and the Treadmill of Production (ToP). Less attention is paid to the connection between the military and environmental degradation, but recently the Treadmill of Destruction (ToD) has been documented as a global phenomenon with negative environmental effects. …

Abstract: Modern agriculture provides the potential for sustainable feeding of the world’s increasing population. Up to the present moment, genetically modified (GM) products have enabled increased yields and reduced pesticide usage. Nevertheless, GM products are controversial amongst policy makers, scientists and the consumers, regarding their possible environmental, ecological, and health risks. Scientific-and-political debates can even …

Abstract: The Genetic Modified Organisms (GMO) or transgenics could harm human and animal health and represent a potential danger to biodiverse countries. Particularly delicate is its use in a country such as Mexico, where corn and beans are originated, plants which have been converted into a food item all over the world. As to social aspects, …

Abstract: The introduction of transgenes into plants may cause unintended phenotypic effects which could have an impact on the plant itself and the environment. Little is published in the scientific literature about the interrelation of environmental factors and possible unintended effects in genetically modified (GM) plants. We studied transgenic bread wheat Triticum aestivum lines expressing …

Abstract: Two papers about the future of the planet appeared within a month of each other (June/July 2015): Accelerated modern human-induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction was the first (5 pages long). The 6 authors calculated the average rate of vertebrate losses over the last century and compared it with the background rate …

Abstract: The evolution of maize production patterns in Argentina is evaluated over the last 25 years to compare costs, benefits, environmental performance and sustainability as well as to identify the main driving sources and improvement potential. Results from Argentina cropping systems are compared to other systems worldwide in order to put the Argentina results in …

Abstract: Genetically modified herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape or canola (Brassica napus L.) is at the forefront of being introduced into European agriculture. Concerns have been raised about how genetically modified oilseed rape cultivation and the modified cropping practices might impair the agro-environment. The present review compiles and categorises evidenced and potential agro-environmental effects of cultivating genetically …

Abstract: This article intends to discuss briefly the safe diet in view of the use of the so called “Transgenic Technologies” which have marked the New Green Revolution (the 2o. GR) since the 1990´s. The debate revolves around an epistemological criticism of the paradigms which project ideals of productivity, domination and free use of the …

Abstract: Powerful scientific techniques have caused dramatic expansion of genetically modified crops leading to altered agricultural practices posing direct and indirect environmental implications. Despite the enhanced yield potential, risks and biosafety concerns associated with such GM crops are the fundamental issues to be addressed. An increasing interest can be noted among the researchers and policy …

Abstract: Plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) are biopesticides expressed in genetically modified (GM) crops and are typically macromolecular in nature. First-generation insecticidal PIPs were Cry proteins expressed in GM crops containing transgenes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis; next-generation double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) PIPs have been recently approved. Like conventional synthetic pesticides, the use of either Cry …

Abstract: Conservation of biodiversity is high on the agenda of international and national environmental policies though not very present in public awareness. The need to protect biodiversity and stop the loss was acknowledged in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), internationally agreed on in 1992, and underscored by relevant decisions since then. It has been …

Abstract: Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide whose inventor, the Monsanto Corporation, patented the Roundup brand. The company owns the transgenic seed, tolerant to the herbicide, which currently represents 77% of the world area of ​​genetically modified crops. Glyphosate was created in the sixties, introducing itself later in Latin America. Today, its use has increased throughout …

Abstract: Argentina annually utilizes 240,000 tones of glyphosate in industrial agriculture and a change in the profile of morbidity is perceived for physicians of agricultural areas; now reproductive disorders seem to prevail. The objective of this study is to determine concurrence of glyphosate exposure and reproductive disorders in a typical argentine agricultural town (Monte Maíz). An …

Abstract: Bioeconomy solutions potentially reduce the utilization demand of natural resources, and therefore, represent steps towards circular economy, but are not per se equivalent to sustainability. Thus, production may remain to be achieved against losses in natural resources or at other environmental costs, and materials produced by bioeconomy are not necessarily biodegradable. As a consequence, …

Abstract: The industrial agriculture system consumes fossil fuel, water, and topsoil at unsustainable rates. It contributes to numerous forms of environmental degradation, including air and water pollution, soil depletion, diminishing biodiversity, and fish die-offs. Meat production contributes disproportionately to these problems, in part because feeding grain to livestock to produce meat–instead of feeding it directly …

Abstract: Purpose. The prevailing controversies on the potential environmental risks of genetically modified organisms [GMOs] still fuel ongoing discussions among European Union [EU] member states, risk assessors, applicants and scientists, even several years after the commercial introduction of GMOs. The disagreements mainly derive from the current risk assessment practice of GMOs and differences in the …