OPENING PANDORA'S BOX: GOVERNANCE FOR GENETICALLY MODIFIED FORESTS

Planting genetically modified (GM) or transgenic forest trees for wood production is now feasible on a commercial scale worldwide. What are the benefits? What are the risks? Although feasible on a commercial scale, we are still in the early stages of GM technology for forest trees. Some of the major determinants shaping risks of commercial-scale use include type(s) of inserted DNA construct or transgene, but also 1) reproductive biology of the forest species, and 2) the forest production or silvicultural systems.To date, GM forest trees are being tested in small trials worldwide. Only China is planting GM forest trees on a commercial scale. Central to the issue of GM forest trees is the question of biosafety. Will effective biosafety protocols eventually become available, or should we accept that escape of GM forest trees is inevitable and study ecological consequences instead? "Source":[ http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2006/news06.Jan.htm].

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