Artificial plants escape!

A genetically modified (GM) plant has been found living in the wild for the first time in the United States.

GM canola is usually grown to produce edible oil that is good for human consumption. Farmers have increased their use of genetically modified crops since the plants were introduced in the early 1990s. Last year, nearly half the world's GM plants were grown in the USA.

A scientific team found two varieties of transgenic canola in the wild — one modified to be resistant to a herbicide (glyphosate), and one resistant to a different one (gluphosinate). But what is really interesting is that they also found some plants that were resistant to both herbicides, showing that  a new plant had appeared with qualities that did not exist before!

Populations of herbicide-resistant canola were found growing along roads, near petrol stations and grocery stores, often at large distances from areas of agricultural production. The number of canola plants was counted, and one plant was collected and tested for the presence of proteins that could give it resistance to either of the herbicides.

New studies are needed to establish whether these escaped GM canola plants have any ecological consequences. But those that have evolved resistance to both herbicides could become a problem for farmers because they could substitute whole populations of conventional canola plants.

What's next? What happens when an alien population of plants or animals makes the previous ones disappear?

Adapted from an article in Nature by Natasha Gilbert and different pages and pictures from Wikipedia.