GMO Cross Pollination of Weeds Difficult

DONALD - Jul 4/02 - SNS -- There is limited potential for pollen from genetically modified canola to cross pollinate wild radish plants, says the Director of the Western Australia Herbicide Resistance Initiative at the University of WA, Professor Stephen Powles.

Not only is it rare for canola to cross, it is even rarer for cross pollination to result in fertile, healthy offspring.

"Some opponents of GM canola have said that the resistance genes will flow to non-GM canola crops because canola has about 30% cross pollination compared to zero in wheat," Dr Powles said.

"Overseas studies, our own in WA and studies in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales by Rieger, Lamond, Powles, Preston, Roush (published in Science, June 28, 2002) have examined the amount of gene flow occurring between canola crops growing in different paddocks (fields)."

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