Potential impacts from the release of transgenic plants into the environment

Abstract

Transformation techniques are making it possible to produce novel and unusual plant phenotypes. When considering the environmental impact of these, it is important to do so in the context of what is known about conventional plant breeding and the thousands of varieties that have been produced during this century and earlier. There has now been over ten years of experience of environmental impact assessment with transgenic plants, and research has enabled that assessment process to be better informed scientifically. There are, however, important challenges for the future. Fundamental changes in plant biology, including enhanced tolerance to stressful environments, may create a class of plants that are different from those that have been produced so far, and there may be lessons to be learnt from the experience worldwide of the release of exotic species into different countries.

Scale-dependent effects of transgenic plants in agriculture can only effectively be measured by large scale production and monitoring. The monitoring process presents a number of challenges to provide oversight that is meaningful and helpful in assessing environmental impact.

The international transboundary movement of transgenic plants is already a reality, and it is important that our environmental impact assessments take this possibility into account. This includes both intentional transboundary movement, through trade of commodity crops, but also unintentional transboundary movement, including the possibility of seeds being moved by animals, by transportation and by humans across the world.

There are some major challenges in devising agricultural strategies for the transgenic crops that will become available in the future. The responsibility for developing agricultural strategy rests at a number of levels. To achieve this, it will be necessary to have effective dialogue between the regulatory authorities, the plant breeding and agrochemical industries, and the farming industry. There are already encouraging moves in this direction and hopefully this will continue.