Safety Aspects of GM Crops with Abiotic Stress

GM crops with abiotic stress tolerance have been developed to reduce the losses in crop yield brought about by salinity, drought, extreme temperatures and others. With this development, issues about its food and environmental safety have surfaced, affecting adoption and acceptability of these GM crops. In the study by Liang and his co-researchers from  RIKILT Wageningen UR, Institute of Food Safety, the importance of developing a comparative approach in assessing GM crops was discussed.

The results of their findings proved that acceptability and adoption of GM crops with abiotic stress tolerance is dependent on the result of their safety assessment. A triangle method to assess GM crops with abiotic stress tolerance was proposed to improve the current comparative approach for food and environment safety assessment in this type of GM crops. This method compares the cultivation of GM crop grown in two conditions: natural and under stress condition, wherein a conventional crop is also cultivated under natural condition. The effects or risks in cultivating GM crops under both conditions in the environment was accounted and assessed, as compared with conventional crops. GM crops considered safe for the environment is then assessed for its safety as a food.

For further details of the study read the article at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224414001861.