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2003-10-29 | permalink
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.
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News
2003-10-29 | permalink
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.
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