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HOME > PAST ISSUE > March-April 2001 > Article Detail

FEATURE ARTICLE

Ecology of Transgenic Crops

Genetically engineered plants might generate weed problems and affect nontarget organisms, but measuring the risk is difficult

Michelle Marvier

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Kay Peterson of the USDA for her rapid response to requests for copies of petitions and Michael McKee of Monsanto for providing information about nontarget studies. In addition, the author thanks Peter Kareiva and Polly Goldman for comments on an earlier draft.

Bibliography

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  • James, C. 2000. Global status of transgenic crops: challenges and opportunities. In Plant Genetic Engineering: Towards the Third Millennium, ed. A. D. Arencibia. New York: Elsevier. pp. 1?6.
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  • Marvier, M. A., and P. Kareiva. 1999. Extrapolating from field experiments that remove herbivores to population-level effects of herbivore resistance transgenes. In Proceedings of a Workshop on: Ecological Effects of Pest Resistance Genes in Managed Ecosystems, ed. P. L. Traynor and J. H. Westwood. Blacksburg, VA: Information Systems for Biotechnology. pp. 57?64.
  • Pilcher, C. D., J. J. Obrycki, M. E. Rice and L. C. Lewis. 1997. Preimaginal development, survival, and field abundance of insect predators on transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis corn. Environmental Entomology 26:446–454.
  • Saxena, D., S. Flores and G. Stotzky. 1999. Insecticidal toxin in root exudates from Bt corn. Nature 402:480.
  • Wraight, C. L., A. R. Zangerl, M. J. Carroll and M. R. Berenbaum. 2000. Absence of toxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis pollen to black swallowtails under field conditions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97:7700–7703. [CrossRef]




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