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WG2: Environmental impact assessment and monitoring of GMTs in the whole production chain from plantation to final products

Description

The task will compare methods, and collect and evaluate data for an impact assessment and monitoring focusing at the following items:

- Study of impact assessments for crops and other GMOs and from different countries for comparison with GMTs dealt with in this Action;

- Impact of genetic transformation on the plant’s “omics”;

- Fate of the recombinant DNA plant material and effects of the GMTs on exposed ecosystems,

- The possibility of monitoring tools of the transgene from the production of the GMTs to the final products (wood, pulp, paper, etc.);

- Persistence, integration, and biological activity of the foreign genetic material in the environment.

The results of this work will permit to have a view of the environmental impact of the GMTs already produced and to evaluate if the actual containment strategies are necessary or need to be improved. Integrating the information provided by the WG1 with the activity of the WG2 is possible to make environmental risk and benefit analyses. In addition, the identification of a common protocol to monitor the transgenic from the beginning to the final product is particularly important for a possible “future consumer”. If the transgenic product will cost more than the non-transgenic, the consumer has to know it. In addition, if a consumer has an own idea for which she/he does not want a transgenic product, it has to be given her/him the possibility to choose. For economic/societal needs, it is important to have a method which permits to verify if the transgene is present in the final product and if it is correctly reported on it (this in the hypothesis of future commercialisation).

These findings will be also useful to better support socio-economic implications and policy strategies to be developed in WG3

Objectives

1. To evaluate methods for monitoring of the GMTs in the production chain from the plantation to the final products (WG2)

2. To Provide a database with the main information on forest GMTs, available to the scientific community and Europe organisations (information for WG4)

3. To provide information for further environmental impacts assessment to assist EU policy (in collaboration with WG1, WG3)

4. To use all the information collected to identify particular topics which could be useful to develop research projects (in collaboration with WG1, WG3, WG4

5. To summarised in a book the knowledge gained as a final output of this Action (joint publication within WGs)

Partecipants