Advancing environmental risk assessment for transgenic biofeedstock crops

Advancing environmental risk assessment for transgenic biofeedstock crops

Transgenic modification of plants is a key enabling technology for developing sustainable biofeedstocks for biofuels production. Regulatory decisions and the wider acceptance and development of transgenic biofeedstock crops are considered from the context of science-based risk assessment. The risk assessment paradigm for transgenic biofeedstock crops is fundamentally no different from that of c...

Transgenic Crops: An Environmental Assessment

Environmental benefits and costs of transgenic crops: introduction

Concern about the environmental impacts of transgenic crops is one of the major reasons for the EU’s quasi moratorium on GMOs (European Environment Council 1999). The contributions in this book show that the economic implications of these concerns are far-reaching and complex. At the centre of the theoretical framework for analysis stands the linear chain of agricultural biotechnology developme...

Belowground environmental effects of transgenic crops: a soil microbial perspective.

Experimental studies investigated the effects of transgenic crops on the structure, function and diversity of soil and rhizosphere microbial communities playing key roles in belowground environments. Here we review available data on direct, indirect and pleiotropic effects of engineered plants on soil microbiota, considering both the technology and the genetic construct utilized. Plants modifie...

Relevance of Crop Biology for Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Crops in Africa

Knowledge about the crop biology of economic crops in Africa is needed for regulators to accurately review dossiers and conduct comprehensive environmental risk assessments (ERAs). This information allows regulators to decide whether biotech crops present a risk to biodiversity, since crossing between domesticated crops and their wild relatives could affect the adaptations of the wild species. ...