Science News
Searching for data on GMOs
Researchers call for greater monitoring of genetically modified crops.
In 2007, farmers planted 114 million hectares of genetically modified crops worldwide, and nearly half was in the U.S. But the environmental impact of these crops continues to be a controversial topic, with some groups asking for looser regulations on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and others asking for stricter oversight.
The way out of this conundrum is better monitoring of the crops in use, according to a new policy paper published April 25 in Science (2008, 320 [5875], 452–453). Without such a monitoring system, the authors say, the true ecological impacts of genetically engineered (GE) crops will remain uncertain.
Every year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture collects data on the number of acres planted of various crop species nationwide. And since 2000, the agency has asked a randomly selected group of farmers whether they planted genetically modified varieties of corn, soybeans, and cotton—the most common transgenic crops in the country—and has mapped those data by state.
The maps' resolution levels are too crude to yield insights into either positive or negative effects of the transgenic crops because the impacts occur at smaller scales, according to the study's lead author, Michelle Marvier of Santa Clara University, and her coauthors.
"Data on the geographic distribution of GE crops would be more informative and useful if [they] were aggregated and publicly released at the spatial scale of counties," they write.
But a detailed accounting of acreage is not enough, the authors add. Equally important are specifics about GMO varieties in use. For instance, transgenic corn and cotton in the U.S. have 12 combinations of between one and three proteins that are poisonous to caterpillars, beetles, or both. Knowing the specific kind of transgenic crop planted would enable researchers and policy experts to better correlate specific varieties of GMOs with changes in environmental factors such as water quality, insect diversity, and pest resistance.
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