Notes

Genetically modified crops are more beneficial than the weeds

Herbicide resistance may confer an advantage on plants in the wild.

Credit: Xiao Yang
Genetic modification to create crops resistant to herbicides has been extensively utilized to provide advantages to species of rice that are weedy. https://www.highlandcountychamber.com/what-happened-to-make-roundup-ready-roundup-come-to-be-3/ suggest that these modifications could have a wide variety of impacts that extend beyond farms, and possibly in the wild.

A variety of crop varieties have been genetically altered in order to ward off glyphosate. The herbicide was initially sold under the tradename Roundup. This glyphosate resistance enables farmers to eradicate the majority of herbicides in their fields without damaging their crop.

Glyphosate is a plant-killer by blocking EPSP synase, an enzyme involved in the production of amino acids, as well as other chemical compounds that make up about 35% of plants' mass. Genetic modification, for instance, the Roundup Ready crops manufactured by Monsanto in St. Louis, Missouri, involves inserting genes to a crop's genetic code in order to increase EPSP production. The genes typically come from bacteria that have infected plants.

The extra EPSP synase allows for plants to counter the effects of glyphosate. Biotechnology labs have also tried to make EPSP-synthase more plant-based than bacteria using genes from plants. This was partially used to take advantage of the loophole in US law, which permits regulatory approval for organisms that aren't derived from bacteria or parasites.

A few studies have looked into the possibility that transgenes, such as glyphosate-resistant ones are able to -- when introduced to weedy or wild plants via cross-pollination increase the competitiveness of these plants in survival, reproduction and growth. Norman Ellstrand is a University of California Riverside plant geneticist. "The expectation is that any transgene can cause disadvantage in the wild in the absence of selective pressure due to the fact that it reduces fitness," Ellstrand said.

Lu Baorong is an Ecologist at Fudan University Shanghai. His study shows that glyphosate resistance offers a significant health benefit, even if it isn't applied.

Lu and his coworkers modified cultivars of rice to make more EPSP synthase. https://www.trackometrix.com/auto-draft-135/ crossed the modified rice with a weedy related. ラウンドアップ was published in NewPhytologist 1..

The researchers then allowed offspring to crossbreed with one-another, creating second-generation hybrids that are genetically similar to their parents, except for how many copies of the gene that encodes EPSP synthase. https://www.dtomarmaris.org/auto-draft-202/ found that those who had greater than one copy of the gene that codes for EPSP synthase had more enzyme expression and produced more tryptophan, as expected.

Researchers also found that transgenics have higher rates of flowering, more flowers and 48 to 125 percent more seeds per plant than nontransgenics.

Lu believes that making weedy, invading rice more competitive might make it harder for farmers to repair the damage caused by this bug.

Brian Ford-Lloyd is a UK plant geneticist and says, "If the EPSP synthase gene gets in the wild rice species, their genetic diversity would be endangered, which is significant because the genotype with transgene is superior to the natural species." This is one of the clearest examples of extremely plausible harmful effects [of GM crop on the environment."

Many people believe that plants with genetically modified genes containing more than one copy of their genes than microorganisms are safe. This notion is however questioned by the study. Lu states that the study "shows that this is not always the case".

Researchers have concluded that their findings require a reconsideration of how genetically modified crops will be regulated in the future. Ellstrand saysthat "Some people believe that the biosafety regulations should be relaxed." Ellstrand adds: The study does not prove that the new products are secure.


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