GM-Free Nillumbik - Environment

Is GM another cane toad?

Because GMOs are inherently genetic by nature, then releasing them into the wider environment will mean that they will propagate, mutate and live on – that is, genes will spread throughout the environment. Once the “gene genie” is out of the bottle, it can’t be recalled, so we would want to be very sure of releasing them into the environment.

GM DNA can spread as a result of:

 • Wind

 • Flood

 • Animals

 • Farm handling

 • Seed cleaning and handling

 • Agriculture transport systems

Current GM plants include herbicide tolerance, which means they can withstand a normally lethal dose of herbicide while all around them dies. There is concern that if these herbicide tolerant genes cross pollinate with other related species then these plants will be herbicide tolerant leading to the possibility of “super weeds” that can’t be killed. In fact, Canada, Australia’s prime competitor in canola production, already suffers from massive GM contamination as a result of the introduction of GM canola nearly 10 years ago. 32 of 33 certified GM-free seed stocks in Canada were found to contain some GM DNA. As a ‘promiscuous’ species of the brassica family, canola also readily crosses out to other brassicas like wild radish and wild turnip, common weeds in Australian agriculture and bushland.

Releasing genetically engineered organisms into the environment, is therefore allowing a flawed technology to jeopardise the integrity of organisms, ecosystems, our food supply and human health. Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) crops, for example, are genetically engineered to generate their own pesticide (as opposed to pesticide being sprayed on the plants selectively).

Experiences with Bt crops illustrate how GM plants can affect organisms at various points of the food chain: When a Bt crop was grown in a US field trial, the larvae of Monarch butterflies were found to be harmed. The larvae were affected not by the Bt pollen on the plant itself, but on neighbouring milkweed which had been contaminated with Bt through insects and wind.

Bt cotton, widely grown in Australia, is engineered to repel the cotton bollworm. However, the crop has been found to also affect the insects that are the natural parasites of the bollworm. When such ‘beneficial insects’ are affected down the food chain, the entire ecology of an area is altered. As with the Australian experience of the cane toad, this can mean that the end result is simply new, different and more difficult pest problems. These secondary effects demand more frequent and often stronger applications of pesticides, forcing farmers onto a treadmill of pesticide dependence.