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THE ENVIRONMENT
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1.
GM plants are a ‘genetic unknown’. GM technology makes the assumption that when a gene is extracted from the DNA of one species and implanted into another, it will carry on doing the same job in the new organism as it did in the original organism. However, the behaviour of a gene is affected by the chemical environment within the organism it inhabits and the external ecological environment outside the organism. Because scientists do not yet fully understand the interaction between a gene and the internal and external environment of the organism – they cannot know how it will behave when transferred into a new organism with a new environment. Genetic distortions caused by gene transfer may take time to manifest themselves - GM crops may effect the environment in ways which will only become apparent in the medium to long term. (See GENE SCIENCE.)
2.
GM technology is imprecise. When scientists use GM technology to transfer genes from foreign organisms into a plant they cannot control how many genes will be taken up by the plant or what part of the plant’s DNA they will insert themselves into. Moreover, the plant cannot appropriately control foreign genes transferred into it, (it cannot ‘switch them on’ or ‘switch them off’ in a regulated manner as it does with its own genes) and therefore foreign genes in the majority of cases remain ‘switched on’ for the lifetime of the plant. These genetic abnormalities may well cause GM plants to be ‘unstable’ and thus increase not only their ability to escape into the environment but their potential to do harm. (See GENE SCIENCE.)
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