Skip Navigation | Sheffield IMC | UK IMC | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

UK Indymedia UK Indymedia Sheffield Indymedia Sheffield Indymedia

Inevitable GM pollution

steve | 13.10.2003 10:09 | Bio-technology | Ecology | Sheffield

An article from Friday's Daily Mail (10.10.03) outlining the latest research on GM. Interesting quotes revealing the amount of known cross contamination in the UK and affirming that barrier crops don't work.

Although crop trashing has obviously had a powerful safeguarding effect more anti-GM gardeners are obviously needed.

Pollution by GM crops is inevitable say experts

By Tim Utton
Science Reporter

Scientists warned last night that pollution of Britain's natural plant strains is inevitable once genetically modified crops are planted.

In a blow to the GM lobby, they predicted that a single year of 'Frankenstein' crops will yield tens of thousands of hybrids - when the wild plant and its GM equivalent become mixed.

Even wide gaps separating modified varieties from their natural counterparts will not be sufficient because pollen can travel up to two miles, said the researchers in the first national study of its kind in the UK.

Campaigners fear such hybrids could turn into superweeds able to resist the strongest herbicides and will dominate the British countryside.

Plant genetics experts at Reading University spent three years studying the potential spread of GM traits in the countryside.

Writing today in the journal Science, they conclude: 'Widespread, relatively frequent hybrid formation is inevitable from male-fertile GM rapeseed in the UK.'

It is the latest in a series of setbacks for the Government's plans to approve GM crops for cultivation in the UK.

Last month the national 'GM Nation' survey revealed that 93 percent of people believe not enough is known about the long-term effects of GM maize, sugar beet and oil seed rape claimed that two of the three types are more harmful to the environment that conventional varieties.

And last week, leaked results of the Government's three-year trials of GM maize, sugar beet and oil seed rape claimed that two of the three types are more harmful to the environment than conventional varieties.

In the latest study, plant geneticists used DNA fingerprinting techniques to see how many hybrids - containing genes from both parent plants - had been created when non-GM oilseed rape was planted near to its wild cousin.

Dr Mike Wilkinson found that during a single year, 32,000 hybrid plants were created across the UK, and a further 17,000 hybrids were found in a separate 'weed' variant of oilseed rape growing alongside the crops.

Dr Wilkinson said: 'The concern of a many people is that a gene from a genetically modified crop into a wild relative, the possession of the gene will give the hybrid plant some sort of advantage, and this will lead to unwanted ecological change.'

Scientists admit the genetic advantages conferred by new GM genes are an unknown quantity, and could mean they 'out-compete' natural plants.

GM oilseed rape is modified to withstand a powerful herbicide and the fear is that the plants could pass on this resistance to their wild cousins.

Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, said: 'This study confirms what we have known all along - that co-existence is impossible.

'Neither GM oilseed rape - nor any other genetically modified crop - should be grown in the UK under any circumstances.

steve

Comments

Display the following 2 comments

  1. Even if you ignore the unkown things about GM..... — Afinkawan
  2. More from the Guardian — steve

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Sheffield Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Sheffield [navigation.actions2016]

Sheffield [navigation.actions2015]

Sheffield [navigation.actions2014]

NATO 2014

Sheffield Actions 2013

G8 2013

Sheffield Actions 2012

Workfare

Sheffield Actions 2011

2011 Census Resistance
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Occupy Everywhere

Sheffield Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

Sheffield Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

Sheffield Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

Sheffield Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

Sheffield Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

Sheffield Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

Sheffield Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

Sheffield Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech