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, mainly based on our archives. We provide you with a selection of those GENET-news articles in our databank that show the word "trees" in the title of the 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 (to come soon).

GENET-news articles

19.12.2007

Oregon State University (USA) starts non-GE tree breeding programme

A new move toward ”marker based breeding” with economically important forest tree species is expected to improve and speed up the identification of trees with desirable traits – to achieve faster growth, drought resistance, wood quality or other useful characteristics. [...] These programs, researchers say, do not involve genetic engineering, which is the intentional change of genetic structure or introduction of novel genes into plants, and an approach that has also met significant public resistance and regulatory hurdles.

11.12.2007

Argentina’s forest law creates export tax on GE soy to fight deforestation

The forests of Argentina are being cleared at a rate of 40 football fields every hour. To stop the destruction we took to the trees - and to the streets. While our activists protested in the forest, we joined forces with other environmental groups, got 1.5 million signatures of support and pushed through Argentina’s first federal forest protection law. [...] To pay for implementation, the law allocates funds from the national budget, plus income from a new export tax on genetically engineered soy. Forest clearing to plant genetically engineered soy beans destroys 300,000 hectares of native forest per year.

26.11.2007

Through genetics, tapping a tree’s potential as a source of energy

Aiming to turn trees into new energy sources, scientists are using a controversial genetic engineering process to change the composition of the wood. A major goal is to reduce the amount of lignin, a chemical compound that interferes with efforts to turn the tree’s cellulose into biofuels like ethanol. [...] ”Nature would have selected for lower-lignin trees if they could survive,” said Shawn Mansfield, associate professor of wood science at the University of British Columbia. People working in the field also acknowledge that they will face resistance from others who see trees as majestic symbols of pristine nature that should not be genetically altered like corn and soybeans.

20.11.2007

Modified forests could severely impact natural land

When the Tree Biosafety and Genomics Research Cooperative at Oregon State University was still known as The Tree Genetic Engineering Research Cooperative, they publicized their work with ”Roundup® resistant” trees. [...] The old TGERC Web site still has information posted about their hundreds of lines of transgenic trees that ”have demonstrated high levels of tolerance and no detectable growth loss after multiple Roundup® applications…[and others]…that contain a synthetic gene from the cry3a strain of Bacillus thuringiensis…showed strong resistance to the cottonwood leaf beetle…and enhanced growth rate.”

11.11.2007

Dispelling myths key, Patrick Moore says

By dispelling some myths about the effects of pesticides and genetically modified (GM) foods, Canadians will be able to achieve sustainable agriculture, according to Patrick Moore of Greenspirit Strategies. Moore was one of five speakers at Farm Credit Canada’s AgriSuccess Forum, held in Regina on Tuesday. The ex-activist spoke of the irrational fears surrounding the effects of GM foods on human health, the alleged link between pesticide residue and cancer, and renewable energy source myths. [...] ”We do know that glaciers are retreating around the world,” Moore said. ”Why are glaciers perceived as something important? They are just big globs of frozen water. Nothing grows on them, they are basically dead zones. When the glaciers retreat, trees come in ... and a healthy ecosystem re-emerges. Ice and frost are the enemies of life.”

19.10.2007

Cloned pine trees failing in New Zealand

New Zealand’s world status as the leader in pine tree cloning could be threatened if scientists can’t solve a problem with some of the ’super trees’ grown in Whakatane. Horizon2, a forestry biotechnology company in the Bay of Plenty, has gone global in its efforts to find out why some of the mother plants from one of its elite pine tree breeding programmes are mysteriously failing. An expert on somatic embryogenesis - the process used to clone the trees - flew in from Ireland to assist the company. Dr David Thompson, will try to work out why some of the mother plants are turning yellow and then becoming so weak that they snap off at ground level.

19.10.2007

Genetically modified plants vacuum up toxins

Scientists have figured out a way to trick plants into doing the dirty work of environmental cleanup, U.S. and British researchers reported on Monday. Researchers at the University of Washington have genetically altered poplar trees to pull toxins out of contaminated ground water, offering a cost-effective way of cleaning up environmental pollutants. A group of British researchers, meanwhile, has developed genetically altered plants that can clean residues of military explosives from the environment.

15.10.2007

Forest Stewardship Council most effective certification option

New research conducted by Montreal-based management consultants ÉEM Inc. and released today by environmental publishing advocates Markets Initiative shows Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to be the most effective certification system for achieving sustainable forest management in Canada. Unlike the other certification systems, namely CSA, SFI and PEFC, FSC is the only one that prohibits the use of genetically modified trees, prevents the conversion of natural forest to plantations and requires a precautionary approach to the management of areas with high conservation value.

03.10.2007

Genetic modification seen key for second-generation biofuels

Genetic modification has a major role to play in developing second generation biofuels, scientist Simon McQueen-Mason said on Monday. ”Definitely that technology has a big contribution to make to the area I would say,” McQueen-Mason of the U.K.-based Centre for Novel Agricultural Products told a conference organized by EastEuro Link.
Second generation biofuels involve the breaking down of non-edible crops such as fast growing grasses or trees by enzymes to eventually create liquid motor fuel. They are not yet commercially viable but there is heavy investment in research into the area which may see as the long-term solution to concerns that biofuels made from food crops could drive up food prices and lead to shortages.

24.09.2007

Gene-modified eucalyptus ingests more CO2

Eucalyptus trees genetically modified by a team of Taiwanese and U.S. biologists have proven capable of ingesting up to three times more carbon dioxide than normal strains, indicating a new path to reducing greenhouse gases and global warming, team members said yesterday. Under the auspices of National Science Council, staff members at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute (TFRI) under the cabinet-level Council of Agriculture and North Carolina State University in the United States carried out the gene modification project that not only creates eucalyptus with a higher than normal CO2 absorptive capacity, but also causes them to produce less lignin and more cellulose.

13.09.2007

Sweden: Research into GE trees risks irreversible damage to forest

Professor Ove Nilsson is the star of genetically engineered tree research in Sweden. Nilsson and his research team at the Umeå Plant Science Centre won the race to identify the gene that controls plants’ flowering allowing them to produce genetically engineered trees which flower in weeks, instead of years. In 2005, the journal Science declared it one of the most important discoveries of the year. [...] Nilsson isn’t really talking about increasing ”forest productivity”. He’s talking about increasing productivity from industrial tree plantations. The fast growing eucalyptus plantations that Nilsson admires have dried out streams and lowered water tables, leaving local communities without water supplies in many countries in the South. Faster growing trees in cold climates would also need more water. Faster growing tree monocultures have already replaced many native forests and other ecosystems in Europe and North America.

27.08.2007

Frankenforests: GE trees threaten ecosystem collapse

In China, over a million poplar trees have been planted since 2002 to combat deforestation. But the move has not been widely applauded by everyone. The poplars, which are genetically engineered, are China’s first foray into the world of transgenic forestry -- or ”frankenforests” -- and other countries are not far behind. As the biotech industry continues to lay the groundwork for genetically engineered crops -- poorly tested, widely debated and yet plugged as a technological wonder -- a potentially greater threat to biodiversity has begun to emerge. Pushed forward by biotech and the multibillion-dollar timber industry, genetically engineered trees are the latest invention.

01.08.2007

A South Carolina biotech firm re-engineers trees

unfamiliar climates and be processed more easily into wood or paper once they are cut down.
Super trees are the business of ArborGen, a South Carolina company that says improving the genetic makeup of purpose-grown trees - that is, trees grown for paper, wood or biofuels - will help conserve ”native forests in all their diversity and complexity for future generations.” Yes, ArborGen, like so many companies today, is painting itself green - although it has run into a buzzsaw of criticism from the likes of the Sierra Club.

27.07.2007

Plum-pox-resistant GE plum trees move forward in the U.S.

Plum trees with resistance to plum pox (PPV), a virus that can devastate stone fruit, have moved a step closer to reality, according to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), which is leading the project. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which has regulatory authority over genetically engineered organisms, recently ”deregulated” HoneySweet, as the PPV-resistant plum tree is named. This means APHIS had determined that the tree is not a plant pest and that it will have no significant impact on other plants.

24.07.2007

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.

21.06.2007

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.

08.06.2007

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.

15.05.2007

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.

23.03.2007

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.

17.01.2007

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.

10.01.2007

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.”

10.01.2007

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.

08.01.2007

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.

11.12.2006

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."

16.11.2006

Organizations around the world demand ban of genetically engineered trees from Kyoto Protocol

WASHINGTON - November 15 - World Rainforest Movement and Global Justice Ecology Project have presented a demand to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Nairobi, Kenya to ban the use of genetically engineered trees under the Kyoto Protocol. GE trees have been proposed for use in plantations developed as climate sinks or for biofuels.

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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

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.