|
As if genetic engineers haven't wreaked
enough environmental havoc with Roundup-Ready soybeans, pesticidal
potatoes and Monarch butterfly-threatening biotech corn, now
they're looking to create forests full of genetically engineered
trees.
It's time to start pressuring Congress
and U.S. regulatory agencies to place a moratorium on genetically
engineered trees until all possible ecological ramifications
are clearly understood. Visit The Campaign's web site for
letters you can send to the U.S. government expressing your
opinion on this critical issue.
Some things to know about genetically
engineered trees:
*Already, more than 100 genetically engineered
tree test plots have been planted in the United States and
16 other countries. Two dozen tree species are being tested,
including eucalyptus, poplar, pine and sweetgum trees, as
well as a variety of fruit trees. Timber companies hope to
plant genetically engineered trees commercially, and on a
large scale, within five years. Engineers already have added
the genes of humans, chickens and bacteria to trees.
*Four companies - Monsanto, International
Paper, Westvaco Corporation and Fletcher Challenge Forests
- have teamed up to create a forestry biotechnology joint
venture. They will spend $50 million over five years to produce
and market biotech trees. Overall, wood products represent
a $400 billion industry, so stakes are high.
*Under development are aspen and cottonwood
trees engineered to produce less lignin (the tough cellulose
that holds a tree together). Timber companies say this will
make processing the pulp easier.
*Genetic engineers also are developing
trees that are tolerant of pesticides, a twist on the Roundup-Ready
soybeans Monsanto produces. This will allow timber companies
to spray higher quantities of pesticides on their trees, wiping
out increasing amounts of wildlife.
*Also in the works are bioengineered trees
that do not reproduce. Engineers say that turning off a tree's
reproductive capacity channels additional energy to development
and growth, leading to larger trees.
*Then there are trees that are engineered
to contain pesticides in every cell. These trees would kill
pest insects on contact. The impact this would have on large
ecosystems is unknown.
*Fruit tree growers are looking into cherry
trees that produce cherries of new and fashionable colors,
as well as peaches that ripen more slowly. USDA scientists
have created self-vaccinating plums by inserting viral DNA.
The government has approved field trials of more than 50 biotech
varieties of fruits, including apples, grapefruits, pears,
persimmons and walnuts.
*The Washington Post, in a front-page story
last August, points out that trees can live hundreds of times
longer than biotech food crops already on the market. This
makes it especially difficult to determine the long-term impacts
genetically engineered trees may have "on the countless
species that depend on them, including the soil-dwelling fungi
and microbes that are the foundation of the planet's terrestrial
food chain."
*Even on the small scale that the current
test plots represent, genetic contamination of non-GE trees
seems inevitable. If the trees are planted commercially, environmentalists
fear a number of problems will result from widespread contamination.
Genetic drift is a threat to biodiversity, since genetically
mutated trees may out-compete native tree populations.
*So-called "buffer zones," which
genetic engineers say would shield non-biotech trees from
genetic drift, may actually be ineffective. These buffer zones
would be about 50 meters wide. But Rebecca Goldburg, a senior
scientist with Environmental Defense, says pollen from some
pine trees has been known to travel hundreds of miles.
*The Native Forest Network, a Vermont-based
advocacy group, says that "escape of low-lignin genes
into the wild is a significant worry, and could have devastating
consequences on native forests." Lowering lignin could
harm a tree's ability to withstand heavy winds, for example.
Trees with less lignin also may be more susceptible to damage
from insects.
*Some observers worry that genetically
altered trees may cause allergies in people not usually affected
by tree pollen.
*The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees
genetically engineered trees. But many people say the U.S.
government isn't doing enough to protect the environment from
these mutant trees. "The current rules are not very stringent
and are not well policed, and there are a lot of different
risk issues that ought to be addressed thoroughly before these
trees get commercialized," says Jane Rissler of Union
of Concerned Scientists.
*Timber companies say that genetically
engineered trees are necessary to meet growing worldwide demand
for paper products. But sustainable sources such as hemp and
bamboo make much better ecological sense.
|
