U.S. Company Allowed to Cultivate Genetically Modified Pine Unregulated

The U.S. government will not regulate a bio company’s cultivation of genetically modified loblolly pine trees.

The decision was announced in a letter, dated August 2014, and only recently publicized by a scientist at the Center for Food Safety. Environmental groups warn that the company, ArborGen, will be able to plant modified loblolly pine without government oversight or public comment, according to Intercontinentalcry.org.

ArborGen’s previous request to commercialize a modified eucalyptus tree fell under the regulatory umbrella of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The company received public comments at a rate of 10,000 to one opposing its request, according to Intercontinentalcry.org.

Why won’t APHIS regulate ArborGen’s genetically modified loblolly pine? Because the modification method the company chose does not utilize what APHIS calls a “plant pest.”

Some modifications use genes from plant pests or use plant pests to inject genes into the organism to be modified. For example, a group of researchers at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry are inserting genetic material into American chestnuts via a bacteria that infects plants.

The loblolly pine will be modified using genes from other plant species, such as the Monterey pine and American sweetgum, neither of which are classified by APHIS as a plant pest. The genes will be introduced to the loblolly pine using the biolistics method, which uses a gene gun to inject cells with genetic information.

The prospect of the unregulated cultivation of a genetically modified organism has anti-GMO groups alarmed.

“If these [genetically eningeered] loblolly pines are released on a large scale in the U.S., there will be no way to stop them from cross-contaminating native loblolly pines,” biologist Rachel Smolker of Biofuelwatch told Intercontinentalcry.org. “This is deliberate, irreversible and completely irresponsible contamination of the environment with unknown and possibly devastating consequences.”