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

10.12.2003

Kyoto Protocol allows GE trees as carbon sinks

Parties reached agreement yesterday on the use of sinks in the CDM after two years of negotiations. This is an encouraging step forward for the Kyoto Protocol and demonstrates the success of the multilateral process.
However, the sinks agreement clearly fails in three key areas:
- No exclusion of monoculture plantations.
- No exclusion of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
- The links between the sinks rules and other multilateral environmental agreements such as Convention on Biological Diversity are not strong enough.

10.12.2003

Green light for GM trees in Kyoto Protocol

UN diplomats have reached an agreement in principle on Tuesday to include genetically-modified trees in forests planted for the specific purpose of soaking up greenhouse gases. The agreement made at an Environmental summit in Milan will allow scientists to develop fast-growing trees with a maximized capability of storing carbon dioxide, one of the gases thought likely to be responsible for the heating of the earth’s atmosphere. Under the terms of the UN Kyoto Protocol on global warming, rich countries will be able to plant forests in the developing world and offset the amount of gas absorbed against their own greenhouse emissions.

29.10.2003

Canadian government spends $20M for genetically modified trees

The federal government is spending upward of $20-million a year to create genetically modified trees and says commercial plantations could be just a decade away.
Critics say the research could lead to a nightmare vision of sterile forests, while the government’s own documents raise safety concerns about the experiments. The goal of field trials under way in Ste-Foy, Que., is to study »transgenic« trees so the government can be fully informed if a timber company wants to plant them in the future, says the program’s chief researcher. The industry is interested in genetically modifying trees to make them impervious to spruce budworm, produce better quality wood or for other commercial benefits.

12.09.2003

University of Georgia (USA) researchers involved in first trial using transgenic trees to help clean up toxic waste site

Can genetically engineered cottonwood trees clean up a site contaminated with toxic mercury? A team of researchers from the University of Georgia - in the first such field test ever done with trees - is about to find out.
The results could make clearer the future of phytoremediation - a technique of using trees, grasses and other plants to remove hazardous materials from the soil. [...] We hope to see a significant difference in the levels of mercury in the soil within 18 months, perhaps as much as a twofold reduction,« said Richard Meagher, professor of genetics at UGA.

12.09.2003

Can GE trees help cleaning the soil?

It’s a kind of Superfund superplant, a leafy organism designed specifically to devour the hazardous waste that industrial machinations and human carelessness have left in the ground. The genetically modified mutant plants suck heavy metals, such as lead and arsenic, out of the soil into their roots, stems and leaves, cleansing the contaminated soil. It’s an intoxicating vision: Imagine fields of these valiant plants fighting part of the $700 billion battle that the United States faces in mopping up polluted Superfund sites.

05.08.2003

Institute's GM trees cross environmental lobby's grain

The Forest Research Institute has denied environmentalists’ claims that field trials of genetically-modified spruce and pine will wreck export markets for New Zealand timber. The institute received approval from the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) for field tests of genetically modified spruce and radiata pine early in 2001. The genetically modified saplings were reared in glasshouses. The trials are now at the planting-out stage.

05.08.2003

Biotech trees get wooden response from Sierra Club

Scientists are planting genetically engineered trees in dozens of research projects across the country, ignoring the pleas of environmentalists who fear dangerous, unintended consequences. When we’re talking about changing the very makeup of wild forests, we definitely need to apply caution,«said Kathleen Casey, with the Northwest office of the Sierra Club. Trees send their pollen huge distances, and the idea that this won’t contaminate the gene pool is ridiculous,«said Phil Bereano, a University of Washington professor of engineering.

28.07.2003

Genetically modified eucalyptus grows in acidic soil

Major domestic paper manufacturer Oji Paper Co. has developed genetically modified eucalyptus that can grow in acidic soil, company officials said. [...] Oji Paper says it will produce the genetically modified eucalyptus commercially if it is determined the plant poses no harm to the environment. Because eucalyptus, which grows fast and is rich in cellulose, is a good substitute for regular wood in paper production, it is hoped that the development of tougher kinds of eucalyptus will prevent a shortage of trees for paper production, company officials said.

16.04.2003

Brazil tests GM orange tree against »sudden death«

A Brazilian genome scientist says his firm is close to marketing genetically modified orange trees that could save the world’s largest orange crop from destruction by ”sudden death” disease. The disease, now believed to be a human-caused, virulent mutation of an older plague that wiped out Brazil’s orchards in the 1950s, has surfaced across an area holding about 22 million trees in Brazil’s main orange state of Sao Paulo. The idea is to create a tree that is immune to the citrus tristeza virus (CTV) and sudden death, as if we were creating a human into which the cold virus could not enter and mutate,” Fernando Reinach, the chief executive officer of Allelyx, told Reuters in a phone interview.

04.04.2003

Transgenic trees hold promise for pulp and paper industries

The expensive, energy-intensive process of turning wood into paper costs the pulp and paper industries more than $6 billion a year. Much of that expense involves separating wood’s cellulose from lignin, the glue that binds a tree’s fibers, by using an alkali solution and high temperatures and pressures. Although the lignin so removed is reused as fuel, wood with less lignin and more cellulose would save the industry millions of dollars a year in processing and chemical costs. [...] By genetically modifying aspen trees, Dr. Vincent L. Chiang, professor of forest biotechnology, and his colleagues have reduced the trees’ lignin content by 45 to 50 percent - and accomplished the first successful dual-gene alteration in forestry science.

25.03.2003

U.S. photocopy company Kinkos does not support GE trees

Kinkos, the photocopy giant, announced that it would not align itself with suppliers using genetically engineered trees. This policy is the first of its kind regarding genetically engineered trees and is a groundbreaking step toward the elimination of the severe ecological threats posed by genetically engineered trees. We laud this decision by Kinkos and congratulate Rainforest Action Network and the Dogwood Alliance on this important victory,” said Brad Hash, Campaigner on Genetically Engineered Trees for Action for Social & Ecological Justice.

19.03.2003

Forest Certification New Zealand goes for GE tree ban

The standard, put forward by a body called Forest Certification New Zealand, is aimed at providing consumers with a guarantee that the wood they buy has been grown in an environmentally friendly manner. A draft standard has been circulated and New Zealand’s forestry firms say the proposal is draconian, absurd and would lock them into never using genetic technologies.
One submission on the proposal, from forestry company Rubicon, describes the proposal as ”absurd. The present prohibition on the use of genetically modified trees is reasonable in terms of where the technology and understanding is today no government has approved the uncontrolled release of genetically modified trees yet.

28.01.2003

Biotech company engineers future forests

Call it genetic engineering for trees. That’s how ArborGen, a Summerville-based biotech company, serves the nation’s forest industry. Using gene transfer techniques, tissue-freezing cryogenics labs and a foresight that penetrates decades into the forest industry’s future needs, ArborGen develops ways to improve the quality of wood and the growth and harvesting of trees. Producing faster-growing trees is one of the byproducts of our research,” says Dawn Parks, ArborGen’s government and public affairs manager. ”We focus mainly on improving wood quality, tree plantation productivity and pulp and paper manufacturing.

21.10.2002

Building a better GE tree

Molecular biologist Keith Woeste and his colleagues at the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center are, according to this story, wagering they can grow better hardwoods through a combination of classical breeding and biotechnology to give a boost to the nation’s $14 billion a year hardwood industry. The story says that Purdue University scientists are trying to create superior black walnut, black cherry and northern red oak trees - a trio coveted by the fine furniture and wood flooring industry - that can be planted by the millions in tree plantations.

01.07.2002

GE controversy in Malaysia

Rubber is being re-engineered. One day, perhaps in less than a decade from now, rubber trees will become natural pharmaceutical -factories producing life-saving medicines.
Researchers at RRIM have implanted a gene into the rubber tree to produce human serum albumin (HSA), a protein in blood essential for staying alive. And that, after more studies and trials, is expected to enter the US$4.2 billion market for HSA. ”You don’t cut the tree, you just tap it,” says P Arokiaraj, senior researcher at RRIM’s biotechnology division. ”And from the latex, you can spin out the HSA protein. The system is working.”

04.03.2002

Forest biotech edges out of the lab

Already, researchers have inserted genes for traits such as pesticide resistance, herbicide tolerance, and delayed flowering into several types of trees, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has received applications to field-test 138 types of transformed trees, 52 of them in the last 2 years. Farther down the road, biotech supporters imagine extraordinarily fast-growing trees that can not only reduce the pressure on natural forests but help combat climate change as well.

25.02.2002

Thailand banned commercial import of 37 GE plants

Thirty-seven genetically modified (GM) crops are to be banned from entering the country except for scientific research, said a senior official of the Department of Agriculture. Surapol Yinasawapan, a highranking official of the department’s Agricultural Regulatory Division, yesterday said the 37 GM crops - including oranges, apples, coffee trees and wheat - would be put on the prohibited plant list under the 1964 Plant Quarantine Act. ”GM crops are novel for Thailand. We have to be more careful before allowing them to enter because some people are concerned about their negative impact on the ecosystem,” he said.

01.09.2000

GE news from Poland

find attached and below the official list of field trials in POLAND, as approved by the Ministry of Environment. In 1999, there were 12 permits given for field trials of GE sugar beet, fodder beet, maize, winter and spring oilseed rape and potatoes. In 2000, 9 permits were issued for field trials of: GE sugar beet (6 permits i.e. 6 GE varieties), maize and potatoes. [...] NGOs in Poland recently found out about trials of GE plum trees that have been going on for years.

10.05.2000

US environmentalists warn of GE trees

Last April, Monsanto Company (expected to merge with Pharmacia Upjohn), hooked up with International Paper, Westvaco Corporation (both based in New York) and the New Zealand - based Fletcher Challenge Forests to form a forestry biotechnology joint venture. The four companies will contribute 60 million dollars over five years to produce and market tree seedlings that they say will improve forest health and productivity. [...] Besides increasing the growth rates of tree, they plan to also focus on making these trees tolerant to certain herbicides, much like Monsanto’s »Round-up Ready« soy beans which are genetically designed to survive sprayings of an herbicide it manufactures.

30.04.2000

Canadian Province stops GE apple tree project

The provincial government won’t be participating in any more genetic research into how to keep sliced apples from turning brown. Organic fruit producers said in a news release Monday the government has decided to scrap the project at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre here. [...] »Corky has always understood that B.C. agriculture can best survive by being unique,« three organic growers groups said the release. »In a time of one agricultural crisis after another and with farmers leaving the land in droves, organic farming is an expanding and viable way to make a living.« Organic growers were worried genetically-engineered trees would cross-pollinate with natural ones, ruining their organic status.

Go to page: ← 1 2 3 4

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

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.