Man-made grass found growing outside lab

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Man-made grass found growing outside lab

An unapproved type of genetically engineered grass has been found growing in the wild in what scientists say could be the first instance in the United States in which a biotechnology plant has established itself outside a farm.

Ecologists at the Environmental Protection Agency said they found a small number of the grass plants growing in central Oregon near the site of field tests that took place a few years ago.

The EPA scientists and others said the grass probably would not pose an ecological threat. Still, it could provide fodder for critics who say that agricultural biotechnology cannot be adequately controlled.

More...

And according to the NYT:

Link.

An unapproved type of genetically engineered grass has been found growing in the wild in what scientists say could be the first instance in the U.S. in which a biotechnology plant has established itself outside a farm.

Surprise, surprise...

[edit on 16-8-2006 by loam]

Farmers spray their crops with pesticides and spray the soil with fertilizer. Big Deal.

no kidding, our plants are already so heavily modified and covered in chemicals, i cant see how much worse we can screw this planet up.

Maybe this isn't entirely a bad thing though, remember Bill Murray's new strain of grass in Caddy Shack?
I can hear it now...
"Can I Mow the Grass today, Dad?"
"No Son, I'm Going to Mow!"
"I want to Mow!"
"Alright, but I get to clean the lawnmower."

But seriously this GM trend is scary stuff, I have a good thread on here about Monsanto, they are a threat not only to private enterprise, but who the hell knows what implications this 'technology' might have on the survival of our very species.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Be sure to check out this thread too.

Why was the grass not approved?
We should make multi collored gras!!

Pink int he front yard, a grey color in the back yard and blue around the trees. So pretty. Isn't GM fun!

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Why was the grass not approved?
We should make multi collored gras!!

Pink int he front yard, a grey color in the back yard and blue around the trees. So pretty. Isn't GM fun!

Yah it's all good fun until you find out that pretty purple colored corn you're eating also produces some deadly jellyfish neurotoxin they didn't know about until it was already in the food chain. Given science's dispositions to making the almighty dollar, I'm sure they carefully and fully research all aspects of new strains over a long preiod of time to insure their safety, they always do, don't they?

The genie's out of the bottle. We've opened pandora's box. Get ready brave new world, we've arrived with bells on!

The real issue with this is that this grass was engineered for golf courses to resist "Roundup", and the migration of it can cause grasses in the wild to develop that same resistance.

Story on MSNBC

Creeping bentgrass was engineered to resist the popular herbicide Roundup to allow more efficient weed control on golf courses. But the modified grass could spread that resistance to the wild, becoming a nuisance itself, scientists say.

...the engineered bentgrass has the potential to affect more than a dozen other plant species that could also acquire resistance to Roundup...

Such resistance could force land managers and government agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, which relies heavily on Roundup, to switch to "nastier" herbicides to control grasses and weeds...

I honestld don't see the big problem with this.

I mean it's grass that can withstand weed killer, what bad can it do?

And even if it spreads the resillence to weeds somehow, who cares,
we should'nt kill plants just because we think there tacky.

Originally posted by iori_komei
...we should'nt kill plants just because we think there tacky.

My girlfriend, the liberal, would kill you for saying that.