Biotech Updates

New Safety Research Projects on GM Crops

October 10, 2008

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) announced that it will be funding a large number of biosafety research projects from 2008 to 2011. The main focus of the projects, with funding amounting to around eight million euros (US $11 million), is to prevent the spread of genetically modified plants. Researchers will be concentrating on limiting the spread of oilseed rape via volunteer rape. Rape seeds can survive for long periods in the soil, reappearing as volunteer rape in subsequent crops and leading to an unintentional spread of the plants. Researchers will also conduct further research into the environmental impacts of genetically modified Bt maize. Field trials will test whether the different Bt proteins expressed in the Bt maize plants influence or increase each other’s effects, thereby leading to negative environmental impacts.

For details, visit http://www.gmo-safety.eu/en/news/658.docu.html