Mg. Paoletti et D. Pimentel, THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC COSTS OF HERBICIDE RESISTANCE AND HOST-PLANT RESISTANCE TO PLANT-PATHOGENS AND INSECTS, Technological forecasting & social change, 50(1), 1995, pp. 9-23
Sustainable agriculture and biodiversity maintenance would be central
to a desirable development of genetic engineering. Biotic diversity on
the planet is the base for all food chains, including human ones: in
particular, diversity is incredibly high in tropical areas in which 30
-100 million living species have been forecast. Options for genetic en
gineering, in order to be desirable, have to meet two needs: improve s
ustainability and promote biodiversity, and reduce environmental stres
s. Most of the current field trials that have been approved are focuse
d on traits such as herbicide resistance, which in most cases could pr
omote more intensive use of herbicides hazardous to the environment. E
xtensive research on risk assessment is either limited or nonexistent
on nontarget organisms in agroecosystems in which genetically modified
organisms are expected to be released. The following options are disc
ussed in detail: (1) the B.T. endotoxine problem and the ecology of B.
T. strains; (2) crops modified for herbicide resistance; (3) plants re
sistant to pests and diseases; (4) transfer of resistance genes from w
ild varieties, which are resistant, to commercial ones. Traditional br
eeding of promising cases (potato, apple, grape) as source ideas for s
ustainable agriculture and genetic engineering trends are discussed, t
ogether with some desirable and undesirable aspects of the development
of genetic engineering.