GMO Research
Abstract: The potential impact of transgenic crops on community ecology will depend on the distribution and establishment of the new transgenic traits, on the sexual transfer of their new genes to the environment (Bartsch & Pohl-Orf, 1996) and on the potential ecological impact of the transgenic trait. Flowering and pollen dispersal is important for outcrossing …
Abstract: This study tests the effect of glyphosate application on disease severity in glyphosate‐resistant sugar beet, and examines whether the increase in disease is fungal or plant mediated. In greenhouse studies of glyphosate‐resistant sugar beet, increased disease severity was observed following glyphosate application and inoculation with certain isolates of Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn and Fusarium oxysporum …
Abstract: Glyphosate-resistant (GR) kochia is an increasing management concern in major cropping systems of the northwestern US. In 2014, we investigated four putative GR kochia accessions (designated as ALA, VAL, WIL, DB) collected from sugar beet fields in eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho to characterize the level of evolved glyphosate resistance and determine the relationship …
Abstract: Previous studies had shown that recombinant DNA can be detected for several months in soil after the deposition of litter from transgenic (tg) plants. Here we show by PCR monitoring of field releases of tg sugar beet plants that during the growth of the plants the soil close to the plants and also plant …
Abstract: One of the most discussed environmental effects associated with the use of transgenic plants is the flow of genes to plants in the environment. The flow of genes may occur through pollen since it is the reproductive system that is designed for gene movement. Pollen-mediated gene escape is hard to control in mating plants. Pollen …
Abstract: Field releases of transgenic rizomania‐resistant sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) plants were accompanied by a study of the persistence of DNA from transgenic sugar beet litter in soil and of horizontal gene transfer of plant DNA to bacteria. The transgenic sugar beets contained the marker genes nptII and bar under the control of the bidirectional …
Abstract: The ability of Acinetobacter sp. strain BD413(pFG4ΔnptII) to take up and integrate transgenic plant DNA based on homologous recombination was studied under optimized laboratory conditions. Restoration of nptII, resulting in kanamycin-resistant transformants, was observed with plasmid DNA, plant DNA, and homogenates carrying the gene nptII. Molecular analysis showed that some transformants not only restored …
Summary: In 2000 the EEA established a special project for the European Parliament, on the dissemination of research results from technologies characterised by scientific complexity and uncertainty, such as GMOs and chemicals, and on the use of such results by the public and their representatives in their governance, including the use of the precautionary principle. …
Abstract: Transgenes engineered into annual crops could be unintentionally introduced into the genomes of their free-living wild relatives. The fear is that these transgenes might persist in the environment and have negative ecological consequences. Are some crops or transgenic traits of more concern than others? Are there natural genetic barriers to minimize gene escape? Can …
Abstract: This article explores the ethical implications of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in food that originate from plants that have been genetically altered through bioengineering. Despite noble goals to increase the food supply on the planet, biotechnology has not been applied towards that end. Instead, companies have developed “terminator” seeds that cannot reproduce, forcing farmers …
Text: Biotechnology is big business.1 As such, the use of biotechnology to engineer plants, and the regulation of the resulting food crops, involves economic and trade issues, as well as science and health issues.2 Through modern biotechnology, selected individual genes are transferred from one organism into another, sometimes between nonrelated species, using recombinant DNA (rDNA) …
Abstract: A series of rotation experiments at five sites over four years has explored the environmental and agronomic implications of growing herbicide tolerant oilseed rape and sugar beet. This paper reports on the population dynamics of volunteer rape (Brassica napus). The experiments compared four winter oilseed rape (WOSR) cultivars: a conventional cultivar (Apex) and three …
Abstract: Genetically modified plants are widely grown predominantly in North America and to a lesser extent in Australia, Argentina and China but their regions of production are expected to spread soon beyond these limited areas also reaching Europe where great controversy over the application of gene technology in agriculture persists. Currently, several cultivars of eight …
Abstract: Earlier studies by our group suggested the possibility that offspring of pesticide appliers might have increased risks of birth anomalies. To evaluate this hypothesis, 935 births to 34,772 state-licensed, private pesticide appliers in Minnesota occurring between 1989 and 1992 were linked to the Minnesota state birth registry containing 210,723 live births in this timeframe. …
Abstract: Field studies were conducted in 2008 in Ontario, OR and Paterson, WA to determine the effect of simulated glyphosate drift on ‘Ranger Russet’ potato, including visual injury, shikimic acid accumulation, and tuber yield. Glyphosate was applied at 8.5, 54, 107, 215, and 423 g ae ha−1; which corresponds to 0.01, 0.064, 0.126, 0.254, and …
Abstract: The global expansion in the development and cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops has increased international concern about adventitious presence of GM materials in non-GM seeds and grains. GM events in canola, corn, soybean, cotton, flax, papaya, potato, squash, sugar beet, and tomato have received regulatory approval in Canada. However, GM cultivars are only …
Abstract: The adoption of genetically modified (GM) crops has increased dramatically during the last 3 years, and currently over 52 million hectares of GM crops are planted world-wide. Approximately 41 million hectares of GM crops planted are herbicide-resistant crops, which includes an estimated 33.3 million hectares of herbicide-resistant soybean. Herbicide-resistant maize, canola, cotton and soybean …
Abstract: We simulated the effects of the introduction of genetically modified herbicide-tolerant (GMHT) crops on weed populations and the consequences for seed-eating birds. We predict that weed populations might be reduced to low levels or practically eradicated, depending on the exact form of management. Consequent effects on the local use of fields by birds might …
Abstract: Since transgenic, bromoxynil-resistant cotton and glufosinate-resistant canola were introduced in 1995, planting of transgenic herbicide-resistant crops has grown substantially, revolutionizing weed management where they have been available. Before 1995, several commercial herbicide-resistant crops were produced by biotechnology through selection for resistance in tissue culture. However, non-transgenic herbicide-resistant crops have had less commercial impact. Since …
