Evaluating Environmental Effects of Transgenic Plants

Many people in the world still live in extreme poverty and are without adequate nutrition, health and education. The ability to express foreign genes using transgenic technologies has opened up options for producing large quantities of commercially important industrial or pharmaceutical products in plants. Data from the biotechnology industry suggests that since wide-scale planting started in 1996, the area of transgenic crops grown globally has increased from 1.6 to 148 Mha in 2010. Despite this high adoption rate and future promises, there is a multitude of concerns about the impact of genetically modified (GM) crops on the environment. Before a transgenic crop can be placed on the market, regulators must be assured that, among other things, its cultivation poses no more risks to the environment than their traditional counterparts. The claimed effects of transgenic plants on environment are divided to direct (chemical interaction whit living things, change in persistence or invasiveness of the crop and gene flow by pollination to weeds and feral plants) and indirect effects (reduced efficiency of pests, disease, and weed control, effect on wildlife biodiversity and effect on soil and water.)