Genetic engineering is a powerful alternative to classic breeding the ages-old method used to give organisms new, desirable traits because specific genes from any source, be it microbe, plant, animal or even synthetic, can be integrated directly into an organism's genome.
"Transgenes make it possible to create organisms with traits that cannot be obtained through normal sexual reproduction," Snow said. "There's great debate even within the scientific community about how transgenic organisms should be developed, regulated and deployed.
"We wanted to provide ecological insight for consideration prior to releasing a GEO along with recommendations on how to evaluate the organism once it has established itself in the field."
Snow and her colleagues made a number of recommendations for addressing the risks and helping to prevent unwanted side effects when developing and ultimately releasing GEOs into the environment. These recommendations are described in detail below.
There is a need for rigorous, well-designed studies of the risks and benefits associated with GEOs that incorporate the inherent complexity of ecological systems. The panel members call for more support from government and commercial sectors for environmental risk assessment and risk management research.
On that note, the panel also calls for developing regulations based more heavily on scientific findings of risks and benefits. In the United States, GEOs are currently regulated by a handful of agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, along with several federal statutes.
"But regulators often have to make decisions before scientific findings are available," Snow said. "That's just not good enough, especially since what happens in many cases could be irreversible once a gene is out there in the environ
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Contact: Allison Snow
Snow.1@osu.edu
614-292-3445
Ohio State University
2-Mar-2004