Biosafety of Transgenic Trees in the United States

Abstract

The rapid advancement in transgenic forest technology has brought forth biosafety concerns and economic barriers to their commercialization. The primary ecological biosafety risk posed by transgenic organisms is the spread and establishment of transgenes in the environment. Transgenic trees pose unique ecological consideration due to their long life span, increasing the opportunity for transgene movement and integration into wild tree populations and prolonging selective pressure on affected ecosystem inhabitants. The challenges posed in fully assessing risks of introducing transgenic forest plantations are great, requiring multiple studies spanning numerous sites and successive generations of trees to evaluate invasiveness, weediness, and ecological performance. Due to the irreversible nature of introgressed transgenes into undomesticated populations, regulatory oversight and prudence is required. The US and Canada have robust systems for regulating field-testing of transgenic organisms prior to commercialization. To date, genetically-engineered trees have been regulated under rules designed for all GM plants. This is changing due to a growing awareness of the unique regulatory challenges posed by the production of transgenic forest plantations. On national and international levels, regulators are making new rules specific to the challenge posed by commercialization of genetically-engineered trees.