###BASE_URL###

Genetically Engineered Trees

 

Since 1999 GENET collects and distributes information on various topics in the field of genetic engineering in agriculture, food production and health. With this "Special Topic: GE Trees" GENET aims at providing an overview about the worldwide debate on genetically engineered trees, based on our archives.

 

Databank Query 1: "trees" as key word in the GENET-news text

 

You will find a selection of publications in the section "Research & Reports". To get more information about the different stakeholders in the debate, please follow the internet links to selected actors in the civil society and industry sectors. Finally, the page "GE Trees and the CBD" introduces you into the international debate about a moratorium on GE trees that is ongoing at the Convention for Biological Biodiversity.

GENET-news articles

2007-07-24 |

On Swedish GE tree research

In a secure, sterile greenhouse just south of the Arctic Circle trees are flowering in four weeks that would otherwise have taken 10 to 15 years to mature. The genetically modified seedlings are a huge step forward in the race to produce bigger, faster-growing trees. It’s a race which must be won to meet insatiable global demand for wood and forest byproducts without pushing commercial logging even deeper into the world’s dwindling native forests. ”The post-fossil fuel era will see human society turn back to its traditional dependency on wood,” says Professor Ove Nilsson, the scientific co-ordinator at the Umea Plant Science Centre in northern Sweden.

2007-06-21 |

A six-inch tall GE tree: Researchers demonstrate way to control height

This is a ”proof of concept” that tree height can be readily controlled by genetic engineering techniques. It opens the door to a wide variety of new products for the ornamental and nursery industries, experts say, if regulatory hurdles can be overcome – a big ”if.” [...] The advances for cereals have been part of the ”Green Revolution,” in which plants such as rice or wheat were created that directed less energy to height growth and more to development of stout stems and plentiful seed. In orchards, semi-dwarf fruit trees produce more fruit that is easier to harvest. The improvements in cereal yields have been credited with preventing the starvation of millions.

2007-06-08 |

USDA must reject permit for engineered Eucalyptus trees, campaign demands

The STOP GE Trees Campaign is demanding the USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reject a request by ArborGen to allow a field trial of genetically engineered eucalyptus to flower and produce seeds. The Campaign wants to ensure APHIS destroys the Baldwin County, Alabama field trial before it produces seeds to prevent escape of the GE eucalyptus.

2007-05-15 |

Effort launched to stop GE eucalyptus plantations in US Southeast

As the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) wraps up its annual convention in Boston, the STOP GE Trees Campaign and member groups from around the U.S., including Dogwood Alliance, WildLaw, Southern Forests Network, Sierra Club and Global Justice Ecology Project are uniting to stop the plans of GE tree giant ArborGen to release genetically engineered eucalyptus trees in the southeast U.S.
ArborGen, which was a co-sponsor of the BIO convention, is laying the groundwork for massive plantations of non-native eucalyptus trees genetically engineered to be cold tolerant for biofuels and paper pulp. In addition to the cold tolerance trait, these eucalyptus have been engineered for other traits which ArborGen refuses to reveal. News articles and reports indicate these traits likely include reduced lignin content and the ability to kill insects.

2007-03-23 |

Romania’s GMO dilemma: who to side with - corporations or the EU?

The Environment Ministry in Bucharest is due to push for public debate two new initiatives on genetically modified food - one for the introduction of GM soy testing and one for tests of GM plum trees. The Ministry recently authorized tests on GM corn. The moves come as agricultural experts are pushing hard to make Romanian citizens understand that GM crops are not harmful. But environmental militants are redirecting the debate towards studies they say may help stop the expansion of non-conventional crops, while modified corn is the only GM plant allowed in the EU agriculture.

2007-01-17 |

Danger in the Woods - Despite environmental concerns the Canadian government still goes ahead with GE trees

Greenpeace today submitted its report on genetically engineered (GE) trees to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Despite numerous scientific warnings about the risks of GE trees to the environment, the Canadian government continues to authorize GE tree field trials. The CFIA is currently consulting on the latest round of GE trees field trials that will still allow such trials to take place in open air. Pollen from spruce can travel up to 3000km and can survive up to 60km. Field trials of GE trees can result in the contamination of other trees.

2007-01-10 |

Rapid evolutionary change may help annual plants cope with global warming better than long-living species

Countering Charles Darwin’s view that evolution occurs gradually, UC Irvine scientists have discovered that plants with short life cycles can evolutionally adapt in just a few years to climate change. This finding suggests that quick-growing plants such as weeds may cope better with global warming than slower-growing plants such as Redwood trees – a phenomenon that could lead to future changes in the Earth’s plant life. “Some species evolve fast enough to keep up with environmental change,” said Arthur Weis, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. “Global warming may increase the pace of this change so that certain species may have difficulty keeping up. Plants with longer life cycles will have fewer generations over which to evolve.”

2007-01-10 |

Grow Green

It’s often said that the largest of trees comes from the smallest of seeds. When Ibrahim Abouleish opened the Sekem Farm on a plot of empty desert, his critics must have thought he was crazy. But now, with a network of crops covering more than 70,000 acres of organic farmland, he is all smiles. [...] Genetically modified foods are among organic farms’ top enemies. To create a GMO, scientists manipulate genes in a plant’s or animal’s DNA to produce desirable characteristics, for example, a certain pest resistance or a larger fruit. Although some GE proponents say it can reduce the use of chemicals, the evidence is so far inconclusive. On the other hand, claims that GMOs are more susceptible to diseases and infestation are equally unproven. The use of GMOs does, however, risk uniformity across species because it reproduces the same strain of plant over and over again.

2007-01-08 |

ArborGen, Scion sign deal to benefit global forestry, develop new bio-based products

ArborGen LLC and Crown Research Institute Scion of New Zealand have signed a multi-million dollar partnership deal in a move that will build significant biomaterials expertise and benefit the productivity of plantation forestry worldwide. ArborGen based in Summerville, S.C., and Scion, based in Rotorua, New Zealand, have signed a research and development agreement to focus on the areas of gene discovery and molecular breeding for forest trees.

2006-12-11 |

O Frankentree - GE trees in Canada

When Christmas snows thaw this spring, Armand Seguin will cut down a stand of about 300 trees outside Quebec City. Although he spent years growing these spruce and poplars, he will take care to completely burn their trunks, branches, leaves and roots. And environmental groups such as Greenpeace can hardly wait for the chainsaws to rev up. That's because these are Canada's first and only genetically modified trees to be grown outdoors. While some scientists believe that they represent the future of our forests -- and a forest-product industry that accounted for nearly 60 per cent of our $55.1-billion trade balance in 2005 -- others fear the fallout from experimenting with "frankenpines."

Go to page: ... 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 ...

Home: GENET

GE Trees: NGOs and Social Movements

 people's Forest Forum

The Global Ban on GM Trees Campaign was released by three Finnish non-governemental organisations in January 2004. The open petition protested decicion made in UN Climate change meeting in Milano to include transgenic trees in their climate toolbox. This desicion violated the biodiversity and biosafety agreements and prozesses.

 Stop GE Trees Campaign

The Stop GE Trees Campaign is a national and international alliance of organizations that have united toward the goal of prohibiting the ecologically and socially devastating release of genetically engineered trees into the environment. Global Justice Ecology Project coordinates, administrates and fundraises for the campaign. World Rainforest Movement, based in Uruguay, is the Southern Hub for the Campaign and has materials in Spanish and Portuguese.

 Genetically Modified Trees

Information by the World Rainforest Movement

  • WRM publications on GM Trees
  • Articles published in WRM bulletin
  • WRM special bulletin on GM Trees
  • Video "The Silent Forest"
  • Other relevant information
  • Links

GE Trees: Biotechnology Industry and Science

 Institute for Forest Biotechnology

The Institute promotes the responsible use of biotechnology in forest trees.  We advance the societal, environmental, and economic benefits biotechnology can bring to forests around the world.  The Institute of Forest Biotechnology (IFB) is the only non-profit organization to address the sustainability of forest biotechnology on a global scale.

 ArgorGen

Trees are the world’s most plentiful and versatile source of renewable materials and an important resource for bioenergy. ArborGen is dedicated to improving the sustainability and productivity of purpose grown working forests, providing more wood on less land while preserving native habitats in all their diversity and complexity for future generations.

 Tree Biosafety and Genomics Research Cooperative

The goal of the Tree Biosafety and Genomics Research Cooperative (TBGRC) is to conduct research, technology transfer, and education to facilitate beneficial uses of genetically engineered trees in plantations. The TBGRC seeks to test and develop select innovations, based on progress in molecular biology and agricultural biotechnology, that will ultimately have commercial value to wood-growing and horticultural industries. Research is presently focused on poplars as scientific models for genetic engineering and functional genomic studies.