Gene Flow from GM Crops Less Likely to Harm the Environment

Gene flow, the movement of genes from one population to another, has always occurred naturally. However, it has attracted much attention during the past decades, particularly in the advent of modern crop biotechnology. Commercialization of transgenic crops increased the interest of understanding and managing gene flow. A new issue paper published by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) offers insights regarding the gene flow potential and economic implications of transgenic crops.

The paper addresses several issues ascribed to gene flow. These include: gene transfer ramifications of traits introduced to GM crops, adventitious presence and its relation to gene transfer, containment approaches for the mitigation of gene flow and regulatory and risk assessment mechanisms for biotech crops.

Task Force Chair David Gealy of the USDA Agricultural Research Service pointed out that genes introduced to GM plants will have little to no effects on the dynamics of gene flow, especially outside agricultural fields. He also noted that pre-commercialization procedures that take into account the specific trait being introduced will help minimize the impacts of gene flow.

The press release, as well as the link to the paper entitled Implications of Gene Flow in the Scale-up and Commercial Use of Biotechnology-derived Crops: Economic and Policy Considerations are available at the CAST website http://www.cast-science.org/