Inviting in the New Invasive

We’ve been talking for a while about possible impacts of genetically modified organisms on conventional crops and/or wild plants and the implications of “escaped genes” on natural ecosystems.

From article in the New Scientist:

NOW it’s official: genes from genetically modified corn have escaped into wild varieties in rural Mexico. A new study resolves a long-running controversy over the spread of GM genes and suggests that detecting such escapes may be tougher than previously thought.

(Mahalo to Judy and Dave for the tip!)

So not only are these rogue, experimental genes escaping into native ecosystems, they’re also harder to detect than we had thought. Sounds like the makings of a perfect invasive to us!

Hawaii is now coming to grips with its multi-million dollar invasive species problem–a crisis that has pushed many native species to extinction and pushed many others to just a fraction of their original range. At the same time, Hawaii has become a hotbed of activity for testing of genetically modified organisms (GMO)–Hawaii is home to more open field GMO tests than any other place under U.S. jurisdiction.

Efforts are underway to pull out the welcome mat from under this new invasion, including a bill to stop the genetic modification of taro–Hawaii’s traditional and sacred food and the state plant of Hawaii. You can take action to support today!