New Study Backs Up Biotech Fears

by Danielle Knight

The report, released September 2 in the scientific journal Nature, says species of genetically altered plants examined in field tests showed a dramatically increased ability to reproduce sexually and spread their modified genes to non-modified plants.

This new finding strengthens the fears of many small farmers, scientists and environmentalists worldwide who claimed that the modified or added genes of biologically engineered organisms might "escape" into other related crops or weeds through sexual reproduction or cross-pollination.

"This is a big deal," says Jane Rissler, a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based advocacy group. "This study confirms one of the largest fears of what genetically modified plants can do. The flow of genes from biologically engineered species to wild species could change the genetic diversity and processes of whole ecosystems."

Scientists, for example, have inserted "antifreeze" protein genes from flounders into the genetic code of tomatoes to protect the fruit from frost damage. U.S.-based Monsanto has altered soyabeans to withstand the herbicides the chemical company manufactures. And, chicken genes have been inserted into potatoes to increase disease resistance.

In the new study published by Nature, Joy Bergelson and other scientists at the University of Chicago in the state of Illinois say that, normally, the risk of a gene spreading to other plants is low if the plants self-fertilize. Yet, after several field tests, Bergelson and colleagues report that a genetically engineered plant that was modified to be resistant to the herbicide chlorsulphuron is unusually promiscuous.

Normally this plant, a weed known scientifically as Arabidopsis thaliana, would self-fertilize and cross-pollinate. But after its genes were modified, it was 20 times more likely to pollinate with other thaliana plants that were not genetically modified, or wild.

Therefore, the researchers say, the study shows that wild thaliana are more likely to be fertilized by the pollen of biologically altered thaliana rather than self-reproduce.

"Although A. thaliana is unlikely to become a (sexually reproductive plant), these results show that genetic engineering can substantially increase the probability of transgene escape, even in a species considered to be almost completely self- pollinating," says the study.

While the researchers do not know why the plant has become more fertile after being biologically engineered, they say their findings may have serious consequences since "this (biologically altered) gene has been introduced into dozens of agricultural crops."

Researchers, farmers and environmentalists are concerned that transgenic genes for herbicide tolerance, and pest and disease resistance might escape and through cross-pollination, insert themselves into weedy relatives or other crops. This would dramatically alter the balance in ecosystems by creating weeds or crops that are resistant to herbicides, pests and viruses, says Rissler.

Scientists, for example, have transferred to Indian rice the gene of a naturally occurring bacteria, called Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, which acts as a pesticide. Biologists that study bugs worry that this new Bt rice which is pollinated by wind, might spread to wild grasses that are close relatives. This would lead to pest resistance of the weeds and increase the likelihood of creating bugs super resistant to pesticides.

The implications of the Nature study have also caused alarm among those concerned about a new biologically engineering technique that would enable seed companies to switch a plant's reproductive processes on and off. This means that if farmers attempted to replant the harvested seed, it would be sterile.

Mississippi-based Delta and Pine Land -- the largest cotton seed corporation in the United States -- which was recently bought out by the chemical giant Monsanto, has come under strong criticism for its new technology by farmer organizations in developing countries. They fear that since many farmers who rely on keeping seeds from a previous harvest for the next season will suffer the consequences of this new technology even if they do not buy the modified seed.

"Pollen from crops carrying the new trait will infect the fields of farmers who either reject or can't afford the technology," says Neth Dano, director of the Philippines-based SEARICE, an organization that workers with farmers in Southeast Asia. "When farmers reach into their bins to sow seed the following season they could discover -- too late -- that some of their seed is sterile."

Farm organizations in developing countries charge that this new invention renders it impossible to save protected seed from growing season to growing season. Findings from the new study published in Nature rekindle indicate that this genetic trait might spread easily to other crops through sexual reproduction.

"Farmers could find that their neighbor bought the technology and it cross-pollinated into their field, leaving them with dead seeds," says Monica Opole, the Kenya-based coordinator for the Community Biodiversity Development and Conservation Program.

"Who knows how this technology will interact with nature, especially as it spreads out over time and inevitably crosses with farmers' varieties."