First Established Populations of Genetically Modified Plants Found in the Wild
34 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Franken-canola has been found growing along roadsides in North Dakota, in one of the first known cases of genetically modified crops taking hold in the wild. The finding shows that genetically modified canola plants can survive and thrive in the wild perhaps for decades, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America.
Meredith G. Schafer, a graduate student from the University of Arkansas, and colleagues traveled along 3,000 miles of interstate, state and county roads in North Dakota and stopped every five miles to take a sample of a canola plant. Of the 406 plants collected, 80 percent of them had at least one transgene. And in at least two plants, the herbicide-resistant strains had cross-pollinated, resulting in canola resistant to both Roundup and LibertyLink (known chemically as glyphosate and glufosinate).
It's not that surprising, because most canola plants grown in North Dakota have been genetically modified to resist herbicides, especially Roundup, made by Monsanto, and LibertyLink, made by Bayer. Genetically engineered seeds en route to farmers' fields might blow off a truck and into roadside fields, where the plants take root. In some spots, the plants were as tightly packed as they would be on farms.
What was surprising was the plants' prevalence, however -- they were found along busy roadsides but also in the middle of nowhere, researcher Cindy Sagers told BBC News.
Genetically modified canola had already been found growing in the wild in Canada, and a canola relative was found in Japan, BBC reported.
St. Louis-based Monsanto said in a statement that the finding should neither be surprising nor alarming, however. Tom Nickson, the environmental policy leader at Monsanto, noted that canola is usually found near roadsides, because the seeds are small and easily carry on the wind.
"Because about 90 percent of the U.S. and Canadian canola crop is biotech, it is reasonable to expect a survey of roadside canola to show similar levels of biotech plants," he said.
Researchers from North Dakota State University, California State University-Fresno and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also participated in the study.
[img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/canola.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-08/genetically-modified-canola-plants-grow-and-thrive-wild-study-says[/url]
The science, it's spreading! :science:
Incoming bitching from greenpeace idiots.
I for one welcome our new Canola overlords.
It's no surprise to me. After all, life spreads, even artificial life.
That's awesome.
[QUOTE=ironman17;23878671]It's no surprise to me. After all, life spreads, even artificial life.[/QUOTE]
Technically it's not artificial, more like "altered".
Not really a problem as far as I see it, canola grows on the roadside anyway, it was only a matter of time before transgenic crops cross-pollinated.
In other news, selectively bred cultivated crops have found to establish themselves in the wild
Bulllshit news, same thing happened with oat 6 or 7 years ago.
in western canada canola grows like weeds in ditches and the like
Fuck yeah, now we can totally alter plants to make new ones. Kinda reminds me of Spore for some reason...
[QUOTE=Turnips5;23878625]Incoming bitching from greenpeace idiots.[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://i37.tinypic.com/2euu0jm.jpg[/IMG]
Next in news: Wild GM plants decimated by a new strain of the blackleg virus...
[QUOTE=Kagrenak;23878748]Not really a problem as far as I see it, canola grows on the roadside anyway, it was only a matter of time before transgenic crops cross-pollinated.[/QUOTE]
I guess mankind is giving flora evolution a bit of a push.
Yay Darwin?
We need to burn it all before the Canola enslaves us!
I see you there canola
Swaying gently
Plotting
Although cool, hopefully it doesn't become invasive due to its tolerance of many bugs and viruses. Then again one virus it can't stand up to will kill the whole population. Eh.
Too bad canola is poisonous in it's raw form :saddowns:
Anything called rape seed probably shouldn't be trusted in it's unprocessed form :ohdear:
[QUOTE=DrBreen;23883205]Why wouldn't Greenpeace promote GM food?[/QUOTE]
Because they're idiots, natch.
[url]http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/agriculture/problem/[/url]
"Genetic engineering won't solve world hunger."
Yep, it won't solve, but it will fucking help a lot
They should leave some kind of backdoor, as they already alter the genome. For example, as they are able to make it resilient to some chemicals, they might as well make it extremely vulnerable to some other chemical, which isn't dangerous to any other natural plant or animal. In case that something gets wrong, you just globally spread the backdoor chemical, and get rid of it easily, without damaging rest of the environment.
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;23883731]They should leave some kind of backdoor, as they already alter the genome. For example, as they are able to make it resilient to some chemicals, they might as well make it extremely vulnerable to some other chemical, which isn't dangerous to any other natural plant or animal. In case that something gets wrong, you just globally spread the backdoor chemical, and get rid of it easily, without damaging rest of the environment.[/QUOTE]
Sounds a lot like Jurassic Park...
[QUOTE=Turnips5;23883627]Because they're idiots, natch.
[url]http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/agriculture/problem/[/url]
"Genetic engineering won't solve world hunger."[/QUOTE]
They sort of have a point; GM crops are engineered to be sterile so farmers have to buy seeds off the GM corps every year. This is bad for the farmers because it means they can't save seeds and so are out of pocket.
They don't realise the reason for GM crops being sterile is a result of them lobbying for it to prevent GM crops interbreeding with other plants (it backfired anyway because not every GM plant is sterile, as the news story points out)
[QUOTE=Splurgy_A;23883873]They sort of have a point; GM crops are engineered to be sterile so farmers have to buy seeds off the GM corps every year. This is bad for the farmers because it means they can't save seeds and so are out of pocket.
They don't realise the reason for GM crops being sterile is a result of them lobbying for it to prevent GM crops interbreeding with other plants (it backfired anyway because not every GM plant is sterile, as the news story points out)[/QUOTE]
I know GM isn't THE solution, but it is a part of the solution, and they won't ever acknowledge that.
[QUOTE=Triumph Forks;23883311]omoh?[/QUOTE]
It's Russian. The Omon are a branch of Russia's police system
Watch, the Enviro-Tards are gonna burn that field now.
[QUOTE=Warriorx4;23879801][IMG]http://i37.tinypic.com/2euu0jm.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
I guess they just wanted to throw out the trash.
[QUOTE=Warriorx4;23879801][IMG]http://i37.tinypic.com/2euu0jm.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
Another reason Russia is the most badass country on Earth.
Anyway, I bet the scientists that created this variation of plant are sitting there going "whoops"
[editline]06:26PM[/editline]
[quote=nikola631;23940329]I guess they just wanted to...
*Puts on sunglasses*
throw out the trash.[/quote]
YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!
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