Why Are Regulatory Requirements a Major Impediment to Genetic Engineering of Horticultural Crops? - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 260

perceived.economic.harms.to.marketing.organic.products.as.a.result.of.“contamination”.
of.organic.food.by.GE,.even.when.at.very.low.levels,.have.prompted.successful.law-
suits..The.courts.have.viewed.organic.agriculture.as.an.environmental.good,.whose.
possible.harm.thus.requires.careful.consideration.via.an.environmental.impact.state-
ment..Such.a.ruling.for.alfalfa.has.resulted.in.its.withdrawal.from.the.marketplace, 23 .
and. a. similar. case. is. pending. for. sugar. beet.. These. legal. precedents. and. the. high.
costs. they. impose. are. likely. to. continue. to. slow,. and. in. many. cases. will. prevent.
development.of.GE.crops..Unfortunately,.these.legal.decisions.appear.to.be.informed.
by.a.popular,.rather.than.a.scientiic,.view.of.the.relative.environmental.value.of.GE.
versus.organically.certiied.food..Simple.green.labels.that.presume.GE.is.bad.and.
any.GE.“contamination”.of.“green”.products.is.bad—when.uncritically.accepted.by.
courts.and.a.large.section.of.the.public—pose.considerable.challenges.to.revision.of.
the.current.regulatory.system.

CONCLUSIONS
Regulatory. change. that. would. decriminalize. the. GE. process. is. needed. to. move.
forward.. But. how. can. that. happen?. It. could. be. motivated. by. growing. urgency. for.
improved. food. production,. as. expanded. uses. of. crops. for. bioenergy,. and. climate.
change-induced.crop.losses,.continue.to.drive.up.food.prices..Change.may.also.be.
motivated.by.the.many.humanitarian.GE.projects.underway.for.the.developing.world,.
of.which.Golden.Rice.is.the.best.known..A.single.major,.highly.publicized.success.
could.shift.public.opinion.substantially..Change.may.also.be.motivated.by.informed,.
popular,.and.powerful.thought.and.environmental.leaders,.such.as.Stewart.Brand.and.
Michael.Specter,.who.have.embraced.the.beneits.and.debunked.the.myths.surround-
ing.GE.crops.and.other.environmental.and.scientiic.technologies. 22,24 .However,.as.
discussed.above,.due.to.the.many.layers.of.national.and.global.regulations,.and.the.
strong.political.inluences.on.them,.the.timescale.of.change.may.be.on.the.order.of.
decades.or.more.
For. change. to. ultimately. occur. scientists. must. play. a. key. role.. By. educating.
decision.makers.and.the.public.in.understandable,.contextually.relevant,.and.gen-
erationally. appropriate. forms,. and. by. taking. an. active. part. in. providing. public.
input.to.regulatory.decisions,.biotechnologists.can.help.to.craft.a.new.era.of.intel-
ligent,.discriminating,.science-based.regulations..Transgenic.biotechnology.is.too.
powerful.a.tool.to.surrender..Our.precarious.world,.the.billions.of.needy.people,.
and.threatened.nonhuman.species.need.it.to.become.a.potent.and.central.part.of.
the.crop.technology.toolkit.

REFERENCES
.

1.. Li,. J.. et. al.,. Stability. of. herbicide. resistance. over. 8. years. of. coppice. in. ield-grown,.
genetically.engineered.poplars.. Western Journal of Applied Forestry ,.23,.89,.2008.

. 2.. Strauss,.S.H..et.al.,.Ten.lessons.from.15.years.of.transgenic.Populus.research.. Forestry ,.

77,.455,.2004.

. 3.. Bradford,.K.J..et.al.,.Regulating.transgenic.crops.sensibly:.Lessons.from.plant.breeding,.

biotechnology.and.genomics.. Nature Biotechnology ,.23(4),.439,.2005.