14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this month, a group a researchers announced that it had genetically engineered trees whose makeup made them more suitable for paper and biofuel production. The same trees are now back in the spotlight, but the attention that they are getting is of the negative kind.
Thus, Eco Watch tells us that several scientists and environmentalists are not in the least happy that specialists at the University of British Columbia have created these genetically engineered trees, and would very much appreciate it if this research project were to be pulled the plug on.
As previously reported, the modified polar trees engineered by the University of British Columbia researchers sport ester bonds in the structure of their lignin, i.e. a polymer that is naturally occurring in the cell walls of most plants and that is fairly difficult to break down.
Due to these ester bonds, the lignin in the cell walls of the genetically engineered poplar trees is easier to process and dispose of. Hence, the trees can more easily be turned into paper and/or biofuel, as circumstances demand.
“We’re designing trees to be processed with less energy and fewer chemicals, and ultimately recovering more wood carbohydrate than is currently possible. It is truly a unique achievement to design trees for deconstruction while maintaining their growth potential and strength,” scientist Shawn Mansfield explained at that time.
By the looks of it, what worries the scientists and the environmentalists that have now taken a stand against the University of British Columbia specialists' research project is the fact that the genetically engineered poplar trees threaten to devastate natural ecosystems and their biodiversity, together with human communities.
This is because, if planted, these modified poplar trees are likely to sooner or later contaminate other trees with their genetically engineered trait. In doing so, they would upset the stability and the wellbeing of the natural ecosystems that they would come into contact with.
“Because they can spread their seed and pollen so far, poplars genetically engineered for paper or biofuels are likely to inevitably and irreversibly contaminate native forests. The only way to prevent this potential ecological disaster is to stop the release of GE [genetically engineered] trees,” says Anne Petermann with the Global Justice Ecology Project.
As wells as this, the scientists and environmentalists fear that, should these trees one day become a proper biofuel feedstock, this might translate into the destruction of several ecosystems for the sole purpose of obtaining the land needed to grow the genetically engineered poplars.
The scientists and environmentalists say that, instead of toying with the genetic makeup of trees and other plants, the scientific community should focus on developing sustainable solutions that make it possible for human society to green up its ways without reshaping biodiversity.