Notes

Genetically modified crops provide more benefits than herbicides

Wild plants may be resistant to herbicides.

Credit to Xiao Yang
One common genetic-modification method that makes crops resistant to herbicides was found to be superior over weedy forms of rice. The results suggest that the benefits of this modification could extend beyond farms and out into the wild.

A variety of kinds of plants are genetically modified to be resistive to the glyphosate. Roundup was the first herbicide that was marketed. This resistance to glyphosate allows farmers to wipe out most plants without causing damage to their crops.

ラウンドアップ that is responsible for the production of specific amino acids and various other molecules. It can also hinder the growth of plants. The genetic-modification technique -- used, for instance, in Roundup Ready crops made by the biotech giant Monsanto, based in St Louis, Missouri -generally includes inserting genes into the crop's genome to increase EPSP-synthase's production. The genes typically come from bacteria that cause disease in plants.

ラウンドアップ can withstand the adverse effects of glyphosate due to the additional EPSP synthase. Biotechnology labs have also attempted to utilize genes from plants instead of bacteria to boost the production of EPSP synthase and, in turn, to take advantage of an inconsistency in US law that facilitates regulatory approval of organisms carrying transgenes that aren't made from bacterial pests.

A few studies have looked into whether transgenes such glyphosate-resistant genes are able to -- when introduced to weedy or wild plants by cross-pollination -- increase the competitiveness of these plants in survival, reproduction and growth. https://www.jacom.or.jp/nouyaku/news/2019/10/191024-39457.php of University of California Riverside declares, "The conventional expectation is that any transgene found in the wild could be detrimental if there's no selection pressure , because the additional machinery may decrease the fitness."

Lu Baorong is an ecologist at Fudan University Shanghai. His study shows that glyphosate resistance provides a significant fitness benefit even when it's not applied.

In the study which was published this month in New Phytologist 1, Lu and his colleagues modified the genetics of the cultivated rice species to enhance the species' own EPSP synthase. They crossed the altered rice with a weedy cousin.

The team then allowed the breeding offspring from the cross to mix with each other, resulting in second-generation hybrids genetically identical to one another apart from the amount of copies of the gene that encodes EPSP synthase. As one would expect, the more copies of the gene produced higher levels enzyme and more tryptophan than their unmodified counterparts.

Researchers also found that transgenics have higher rates of flowering, more flowers and 48-125% more seeds/plant than nontransgenics.

Lu believes that making weedy rice less competitive can make it more difficult for farmers who have their land invaded by the pest.

Brian Ford-Lloyd from the University of Birmingham, UK Brian Ford-Lloyd, a researcher at the University of Birmingham in the "If the EPSP synthase gene is introduced to wild rice species, their genetic variety is crucial for conserving, could be at risk because it could surpass the regular varieties." " ラウンドアップ is among the most clear examples of highly plausible harmful consequences of GM crops] upon the environment."

This research also challenges the perception that genetically modified plants with more copies of their genes are more safe than those that contain microorganisms' genes. https://www.nissanchem.co.jp/news_release/news/n2020_01_23.pdf states that his research does not contradict this belief.

Researchers say their findings require an overhaul of the way that genetically modified crops are regulated in the future. Ellstrand says that "some people now believe that biosafety regulation could be relaxed due to our the most comfort with genetic engineering over the last two decades." "But the research still shows that novel products require an in-depth evaluation."


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