Does Bt pollen spread?

[Brian Sandle]

Danfosha at aol.com wrote:
:>From the Organic Consumers Association <www.organicconsumers.org>

: *******
:  New Study Finds GE Threat to Organic
:  
: A startling new unpublished report from Britain concludes
: that it is inevitable that genetically engineered crops will
: contaminate organic food.

We should not only be worried about that but also about the reservoir of 
genetic intelligence in the wild. I wonder how well the seed banks 
collected prior to transgenic releasing represent a large enough pool for 
selecting back to abilites to overcome previously won battles.

 The report by biotechnology and
: agriculture experts at the John Innes Centre found that
: pollen from engineered plants can spread far beyond the
: boundaries of fields.

It is very difficult to stop pollen. What checking has been done for 
genes escaping the air containment systems of `sealed' labs?
Is a random checking plan in place?

:  
: The report recommends that organic farmers set a standard
: for acceptable levels of genetically engineered content, and
: that a system for checking for contamination be put into
: place. 
: "Neither source of contamination, either pollen or seed, can
: be entirely eliminated, so acceptable levels have to be
: decided on," says the report, Organic Farming and Gene
: Transfer from Genetically Modified Crops. 
:  
: Current organic standards in the US and around the world
: require zero levels of genetically engineered content in
: organic food. 

One important factor is to determine if any factor affects the fluidity 
of gene flow necessary for stability in crops. Obvioulsy escape of 
terminator genes would be a gross affector. But more subtle effects 
should be brain stormed about. Some of my earlier posts over the years 
contain the term I coined in brainstorming, `genes of self-modification.' 
The recent article I posted on nz.politics, referred to the work of Dr Ho 
in relation to the need for much more than constant `patentable' genes to 
give crop stability. Now let us wonder about the brain of the plant which 
controls the process. Understand before tampering.

:  : The authors of the British report reached their conclusions 
: after examining data from trials of engineered crops to see
: whether the proposed "buffer zones" between fields of GE and
: organic crops would protect them from contamination. The
: report found that pollen from genetically engineered crops
: can travel large distances on the wind, and is also carried
: by insects. With maize pollen, "in normal weather
: conditions, pollination could occur at sites remote from the
: source (e.g. 180 kilometres)," the report found.

India does not want the terminator seed experiments. But then how would 
it exclude pollen blowing across border from a poor air seal in a lab?

: In Britain, official genetically engineered crop trials 
: operate with only a 200-yard buffer zone. The Soil
: Association, which regulates organic farming in Britain,
: says a six-mile barrier is the minimum needed to guarantee
: organic crops are not contaminated. 

In the New Zealand field trial of Bt-maize (1995-1996 southern hemisphere 
summer seed multiplication trial) 200 meters to the nearest other maize 
was planned. The modified crop also contained genes for resistance to the 
herbicide Buster. Is any Buster resistant maize about? Is anyone checking?


: In the US, genetically engineered crops have already 
: contaminated a shipment of organically grown corn for chips
: produced by the Wisconsin company, Terra Prima. The chips
: were found to be contaminated after they were shipped to
: Europe and tested there - costing the company several
: hundred thousand dollars.
:  
: In Canada, the National Farmers Union (NFU) is calling on
: the Canadian government to make agricultural biotechnology
: companies financially responsible for "genetic pollution" of
: organic and traditional crops.

: ********

: Dan Fosha
: C. Springs, CO USA