Transgenic Organisms

Aspects of the stability of the host-pathogen interaction of baculoviruses Risk assessment of genetically modified plants introduced into the environment A. Dietz 209 Treatment of human disorders with gene therapy and its consequences for the human gene pool Hj. Müller 229 The release of microorganisms-ethical criteria D. Mieth 245 Summary Current theories of evolutionary and ecological genetics cannot be used for general statements on risk assessment of gene technology. In a simplifying model, the genes which are transferred from artificial populations are treated like mutations in the natural populations. It is shown how fast such mutants can become fixed depending on the transfer rate, the population size and the selection coefficient. However, our incomplete knowledge about living systems still does not allow reliable risk assessments because of our incomplete understanding of the underlying principles.