Genetic pollution
From EcoWiki
This page needs your help. Feel free to jump in, add content, edit or categorise it. See stub
Genetic pollution is the contamination of a species/organisms' gene pool with genetic material from another species or organism. This will increasingly be a problem with the introduction of genetically engineered organsims being released into the environment. Biotech corporations are releaseing GE organsims into the environment ostensively to improve; food and pharmaceutical production; forestry and disease control reasons. However, the uncontrolled release of similar yet different genes into the wild gene pool will disrupt the wild populations finely honed traits. Evolutionary arms race hi-jack.
Genetic pollution also occurs occasionally in natural world, when a third party agent (an insect such as an aphid) inadvertantly
transfers a small piece of genetic material from one organism to another. The small piece of genetic material is inadvertantly
incorporated into the recipient organisms genetic material. This is not of great concern.
Contents |
Understanding the issue
The spread of altered genes from genetically engineered organisms to other, non-engineered organisms. Genes are easily transferred between organsims of the same species during reproduction, between organsisms of different species by third party agents (known as vectors) such as insects. In addition, many species of plants can easily breed (hybridise) with many related, but different, species.
Problems caused by genetic pollution in agriculture
Gene stacking
Gene stacking occurs when multiple inserted genes appear in one organsim. This has occurred with herbicide resistnace genes in a large number of the GM crop plants. Gene stacking has caused farmers problems because the plants have modified genes that give them resistance to the most commonly used herbicides: they have become super weeds. Farmers can only irridcate them by using extreme herbicides (such as DDT).
Contamination of wild relatives of crop plants
the implications of this on genetic diversity (and therefore future breeding attempts using both traditional and recent biotech techniques.
Contamination of the food crops by
for example crops grown for animal feed (which may be potentially toxic to humans, e.g. starlink corn), crops grown for pharmaceutcials (could lead to high doses of pharmaceuticals in the food chain), crops grown for biodiesal.
Problems caused by genetic pollution when releasing other Genetically modified organisms
GM rabbits released in Australia to reduce the feral rabbit population could easily end up on a continent where rabbits are
indigenous and cause havoc with local populations.
