GM super-weed discovered in UK field

Last updated at 09:00 26 July 2005

The first genetically modified super-weed has been discovered in the UK - the result of GM oilseed rape cross-breeding with a common weed in farm scale trials, according to new Government research.

Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth (FoE) said the revelation raises serious concerns about the impact of growing GM oilseed rape in the UK - and comes less than a month after the UK tried to persuade other European countries to lift their own bans on growing GM oilseed rape.

FoE said the Government study monitored gene flow from Bayer's herbicide-resistant GM oilseed rape to related wild plants during the Government-sponsored farm scale evaluations of GM crops.

At one test site, the researchers found a GM version of the common weed charlock growing in the field, the year after the GM trial.

The plant was resistant to the weed killer used in the GM trial and was confirmed as containing the gene inserted into the GM oilseed rape.

It is the first known case of such an occurrence in the UK and overturns previous scientific assumptions that charlock was unlikely to cross-breed with GM oilseed rape.

Charlock is a common weed found alongside oilseed rape in the UK and mainland Europe. If GM oilseed rape was grown commercially, herbicide-resistant weeds could become widespread.

Farmers would then have to use more and more damaging weedkillers to get rid of them, with knock-on impacts on the environment.

Bayer has lodged two applications for approval to grow GM oilseed rape with the European Commission. Approval would allow the GM oilseed to be grown in the UK.

FoE said that last month Environment Minister Elliot Morley voted to try to force France and Greece to lift their bans on GM oilseed rape.

The bans were originally put in place in 1998 because of concerns about gene escape into the environment.

No new evidence

FoE said Mr Morley justified the UK position, saying that he had to vote on the basis of the available science, whilst his department was holding research confirming the risk of gene escape from GM oilseed rape.

Mr Morley told BBC Radio 4's Farming Today programme on June 24: "We'll vote on the basis of the scientific advice that we've received.


The minister acknowledged there was widespread public opposition to GM crops which could not be ignored.


GM 'harms wildlife'

FoE's GM campaigner Emily Diamand said: "The Government's trials have already shown that growing GM crops can harm wildlife. Now we're seeing the real possibility of GM super-weeds being created, with serious consequences for farmers and the environment.

"What is disturbing is the way the Government appears to have ignored its own evidence in trying to force GM crops on to countries that have a real cause for concern.

"The Government must stop acting as cheerleader for GM crops and start paying attention to its own research, and above all, to the British public."

Mr Morley today denied the Government was acting as a "cheerleader" for GM crops.

He said it was hardly a rational claim when it was government sponsored trials and research that had uncovered potential biodiversity problems with some GM lines.

"No one can state conclusively that GM technology is either wholly good or wholly bad," Mr Morley said.

"Government does not promote GMs - our duty as regulators is to ensure that the decisions we take are precautionary and strictly evidence-based. We take the only sensible approach, to assess each crop on a case-by-case basis.

"It has been widely and openly accepted for some time now that gene transfer from oil seed rape to its wild relatives is possible. This research project sought to investigate the extent to which that transfer can occur.

"Government operates such programmes precisely to assess the likely risk, and gather reliable scientific evidence, so that decisions can be made on the basis of fact. All the findings are published. This is all part of the research funded by the Government to look at all aspects of GM safety.

"Contrary to some media reports, the so-called hybrid has not been confirmed by researchers as a cross between oil seed rape and charlock but is a finding we cannot ignore.

"A year later when researchers revisited the site where the possible hybrid plant had been found, and took seeds from the plants growing there, they found no evidence of gene transfer.

"So even if a hybrid did once exist it has disappeared. We do however, need to improve our understanding of all aspects of gene transfer and this means we must take this into account with individual GM applications.

"Our top priority is to safeguard human health and the environment. There are no trials of GM oil seed rape in the UK at the moment. No consents for commercial cultivation in EU have been issued and there are none in the pipeline."