CSR #1: A New Form of Canola is Discovered which is Genetically Modified and Transgenic

A Field of Canola

Definitions:

• Transgenic Crop- a plant which contains the genes of another species.
• Biotechnology- the technology of studying and changing the genes of an organism.  
• Genetic Modification- the changing of DNA of a plant or animal which is caused by humans. 
• Ecologists- scientists who study the relationships between organisms and their surroundings. 
• Canola- A plant that is in the same family as mustard. It is often sold commercially as canola oil, which is used in cooking.

Summary:

A biotechnologist working in his lab.
This form of Canola was created
by biotechnologists.

A canola plant was found by ecologists, growing next to a car park in North Dakota. The canola should not have been growing there because there were no canola plantations for miles around.  This made the ecologists curious, so as they continued to drive through North Dakota, they took many samples of the canola growing on the side of the road. Usually, wherever they went, they found canola growing, even though there would be no canola farm around. Through tests, they discovered that most of the plants were genetically modified. The scientists also found that this form of canola plant contained genes from genetically modified plants, so theoretically, these plants themselves were not genetically modified, but their genes were. This was unexpected because these genes were created in a lab, by biotechnologists, so it is surprising that this gene spread so fast. Genes can easily be accidentally spread, for example, a genetically modified seed could escape the truck that was carrying it. Transgenic crops usually become extinct quickly, but scientists predict that this form of canola will last a while. As well, scientists predict that this plant will become a nuisance for farmers because it is very resistant. It may become a weed that is hard to get rid of. Monsanto is the biotechnology company that this gene is supposed to have escaped from, but it does not take credit for it. 


Discussion: 
If this plant becomes an uncontrollable weed, some farmers may have a hard time eradicating it, and what pesticides they use to get rid of the weed could damage the farmer's crops. So in the future, I will be curious to see how this problem is taken care of.  I was fascinated to find that genetically modified plants were so common. It was interesting to learn that genetically modified plants can be found in many places that are available to me, like the side of the road. Previously, I had believed that you could only find genetically modified plants in laboratories, farming fields that grow them, and grocery stores.   As well, I never knew that plants and animals could evolve so fast.  

Questions:

A bottle of canola oil.
This is often used for cooking.

• If this form of canola becomes a problem, and begins to dominate farmers fields all over the USA, then will it not evolve to become even more resistant to pesticides and other things like weather? If this were to happen, wouldn't be a big problem for farmers, so shouldn't this plant be taken care of immediately?
• Could this form of canola be used commercially for money? It seems that it could work well because it is immune to so many things. 

Resources:  

• Article:Biello, David. "Genetically Modified Crop on the Loose and Evolving in U.S.
       Midwest." Scientific American. N.p., 6 Aug. 2010. Web. 24 Sept. 2010.
       <http://www.scientificamerican.com/
       article.cfm?id=genetically-modified-crop>. 
• Images 
• http://www.uscanola.com/vertical/Sites/{8A0F01BE-1FAA-43BC-8CF3-64B0CAFBE4C3}/uploads/{36513D20-5FDE-4570-A913-BE6C0463F213}.JPG
• http://images.shopping.indiatimes.com/images/product/101261_canola-bottle_pbilimage1.jpg
• http://www.freewebs.com/renata17/biotechnology.jpg