THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE
Dear Friends and colleagues,
RE: GM Canola Escapes and Persists Outside Cultivation in the US
Genetically modified canola has escaped from the farm and is thriving in the wild across North Dakota, the dominant canola growing region in the US.
Recently published research, which conducted systematic roadside surveys to quantify the presence and abundance of feral GM and non-GM canola populations in North Dakota, found widespread distribution of feral canola outside of cultivated areas both near and far from cultivated fields over much of the State and the likely persistence of these populations beyond single years.
Feral GM canola was found growing everywhere from ditches to parking lots, the scientists report, with some of the highest densities along major trucking routes, suggesting that feral canola populations are established by seed spill. GM canola was found at almost half of the 634 road survey sampling sites. At some locations there were thousands of GM plants growing.
Perhaps most significant, is the fact that two of the plants had combinations of herbicide resistance that had not been developed commercially. This suggests that there is breeding going on, either in the field or in the roadside populations, to create new combinations of traits, said one of the scientists.
The research demonstrates that escaped populations can contribute to the spread of transgenes outside of cultivation and also raises questions of whether adequate oversight and monitoring protocols are in place to track the environmental impacts of GM crops.
With best wishes,
Third World Network
131 Jalan Macalister,
10400 Penang,
Malaysia
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Item 1
The Establishment of Genetically Engineered Canola Populations in the U.S.
Meredith G. Schafer (1), Andrew A. Ross (2), Jason P. Londo (1), Connie A.
Burdick (3), E. Henry Lee (3), Steven E. Travers (2), Peter K. Van de Water (4), Cynthia L. Sagers (1)*
1 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States of America
2 Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, United States of America
3 Western Ecology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America
4 Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, California State University, Fresno, California, United States of America
* E-mail: csagers@uark.edu
Abstract
Concerns regarding the commercial release of genetically engineered (GE) crops include naturalization, introgression to sexually compatible relatives and the transfer of beneficial traits to native and weedy species through hybridization. To date there have been few documented reports of escape leading some researchers to question the environmental risks of biotech products. In this study we conducted a systematic roadside survey of canola (Brassica napus) populations growing outside of cultivation in North Dakota, USA, the dominant canola growing region in the U.S. We document the presence of two escaped, transgenic genotypes, as well as non-GE canola, and provide evidence of novel combinations of transgenic forms in the wild. Our results demonstrate that feral populations are large and widespread. Moreover, flowering times of escaped populations, as well as the fertile condition of the majority of collections suggest that these populations are established and persistent outside of cultivation.
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Item 2
Canadian GM canola has escaped into wilds of North Dakota: Study
By Margaret Munro
Canada.com, Canada
5 October 2011
Genetically-modified canola has been escaping from commercial farms and growing in the wild and could be trading its genes with wild plants, say researchers.
Genetically modified canola has escaped from the farm and is thriving in the wild across North Dakota, according to a study that indicates there are plenty of novel man-made genes crossing the Canada-U.S. border.
GM canola was found growing everywhere from ditches to parking lots, the scientists report, with some of the highest densities along a trucking route into Canada.
“That’s where the most intense canola production is and it’s also the road that goes to the canola processing plants across the border,” said ecologist Cynthia Sagers of the University of Arkansas, referring to a canola plant in Altona, Man.
Her study stopped at the border, but Canadian research also have found “escaped” GM canola is becoming common on the Canadian prairies, and swapping man-made genes in the wild.
“Biology doesn’t know any borders,” said Rene Van Acker at the University of Guelph, who has done extensive research on the extent and behaviour of escaped GM crops in Manitoba.
For the study published Wednesday, Sagers and her colleagues drove across North Dakota and stopped every eight kilometres to see what was growing.
At almost half of the 634 stops they found genetically modified canola.
At some locations there were thousands of GM plants growing. “That was a shock to us,” Sagers said. At other spots, the GM canola, which was engineered to withstand herbicides that kill weeds, was the only thing growing.
“In some places along the road where department of transportation had sprayed for weeds, the canola was blooming brilliantly,” Sagers said.
Of 288 canola plants the researchers tested, 231 were transgenic or genetically modified.
Perhaps most significant, they said, is the fact that two of plants had combinations of herbicide resistance that had not been developed commercially.
“That suggests to us there is breeding going on, either in the field or in these roadside populations, to create new combinations of traits,” said Sagers.
“In terms of evolutionary biology it‚s pretty amazing.”
She says the findings raise questions about whether the escaped or “feral”
GM canola might pass on man-made genes to wild species like field mustard, which is an agricultural pest.
She and her colleagues said the study, published in the journal PLoS One, also raises questions about whether “adequate oversight and monitoring protocols” are in place to track the environmental impact of biotech products.
“It is conceivably a very large problem,” said Sagers.
Crop and forage species now cover more than a quarter of the earth’s land surface and “yet we know relatively little about how domesticated plants influence wild ones,” said Sagers.
Van Acker said it would be “extremely, extremely rare” for the man-made genes to move into weeds.
But he said the study, like similar research done in Canada, does raise red flags over plans to grow pharmaceutical drugs and industrial oils in GM plants. Such crops would have to be “confined” and kept out of the food system, said Van Acker, “and that starts to worry me.”
The study also points to a growing problem for organic and traditional farmers who do not want to grow GM crops but now have to deal with escaped GM canola finding its way onto their farms.
Van Acker said it is increasingly difficult and costly for Canadian farmers to grow non-GM, or organic, crops.
Sagers agreed and noted that GM escapees are also a problem for farmers because they were engineered to withstand widely used herbicides.
“One of the concerns for farmers in North Dakota is that the herbicide resistant crops will become weeds themselves,” said Sagers.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which regulates and approves GM crops grown in Canada, said by email Wednesday that it is satisfied that the GM crops escaping farms pose no risk.
“GM crops have been safely grown in Canada for the past 20 years,” CFIA‚s media office said. “High level of acceptance of these crops by farmers indicates that farmers value enhanced options for the management of weeds and pests that such crops provide.”
It said assessments, done by CFIA before the GM crops were approved for use, concluded that herbicide tolerant canola varieties authorized for cultivation in Canada are neither more invasive nor more persistent than unmodified commercial counterparts.
“Presence of herbicide tolerant genes does not confer any competitive advantage to plants unless the specific herbicides are used.”