Via the AP: Engineered grass found growing in wild
Grass that was genetically engineered for golf courses is growing in the wild, posing one of the first threats of agricultural biotechnology escaping from the farm in the United States, a new study says.Creeping bentgrass was engineered to resist the popular herbicide Roundup to allow more efficient weed control on golf courses. But the modified grass could spread that resistance to the wild, becoming a nuisance itself, scientists say.
I’d suggest that we run for the hills, but the bentgrass might get us.
And just wait until the coca farmers figure out how to do this:
But Ellstrand noted the engineered bentgrass has the potential to affect more than a dozen other plant species that could also acquire resistance to Roundup, or glyphosate, which he considers a relatively benign herbicide.
I’d suggest that we run for the hills, but the bentgrass might get us.
This is not an issue on which to be so flippant. There have been numerous instances in North America where copyrighted/patented seeds migrate to a private individuals’ land. Then, Monsanto sues the farmer for violating its intellectual property rights and demands payment.
Secondly, the biological effects for many of these new organisms are unknown–and the companies that produce them are not required to estimate their potential impacts on ecosystems. Any rudamentary knowledge of the history of invasive species reveals countless instances of devstating secondary effects when organisms are introduced into a non-native ecosystem. The fact that we are not requiring companies to even estimate impacts of these human-created organisms is absurd.
Making flippant references to “killer grass” does little to encourage public understanding of the very real risks associated with these new organsims.
Comment by Ratoe — Friday, August 18, 2024 @ 7:56 am
It’s not good to fool(with) Mother Nature
Man and nature were created the way we are for a reason and the World is a delicate balance of many factors. We should be careful before tampering with it.
If not, in thirty years they’ll make a movie “The Attack of the Killer Grass.”
Trackback by The Florida Masochist — Friday, August 18, 2024 @ 11:46 am