Just got up and walked away!
Posted on 08/09/2006 3:42:28 PM PDT by blam
Escaped golf-course grass frees gene genie in the US
09 August 2006
Andy Coghlan
A nondescript grass discovered in the Oregon countryside is hardly an alien invasion. Yet the plant - a genetically modified form of a grass commonly grown on golf courses - is worrying the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) enough that it is running its first full environmental impact assessment of a GM plant.
It is the first time a GM plant has escaped into the wild in the US, and it has managed it before securing USDA approval. The plant, creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera, carries a bacterial gene that makes it immune to the potent herbicide glyphosate, better known as Roundup. The manufacturer, The Scotts Company, Marysville, Ohio, is hoping the grass will provide a turf that makes it easier for golf course owners to manage their fairways and greens by letting them kill competing weedy grasses with glyphosate.
“It could prove extremely popular with the thousands of golf course managers in the US, making it easy for it to spread”Jay Reichman and colleagues at the US Environmental Protection Agency's labs in Corvallis, Oregon, identified nine escapees out of 20,400 plants of various grass varieties sampled within a 4.8-kilometre radius of the site where the bentgrass is being cultivated, the most distant 3.8 kilometres away. The team showed that the GM grass has spread both by pollinating non-GM plants to form hybrids, and by seed movement.
Bentgrass is a perennial, so once out there it regrows year after year, whereas most GM crops - mainly soybeans, maize and canola (oilseed rape) - are annuals, unable to reproduce, harvested each year and replaced with an entirely new crop the next. Another worry is that unlike the other GM crops. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
--bflr-
Hope it never becomes endangered!
Say what?? The grass escaped?? Is someone smoking it?
I need a dwarf grass that grows to a height of about 1" and stops growing, stays green most of the year, is hardy to -20 degrees, has long roots so that it can survive a drought and is soft, not stiff, does well in both sun and shade, requires minimal watering, and must resist pests and herbicides.
In other words, the lazy man's perfect lawn.
It escaped without USDA approval???? What about the FDA, did they approve its escape??
astroturf?
Not to mention that it should be resistant to dog pee
If they were controlling things generations ago, they would have burned Luther Burbank's home to the ground, with him in it.
A lawn that won't die? How bad can that be? I mean, unless it develops an opposable thumb and starts making assault weapons in its basement.
Pour concrete over your entire lawn. Then, have an artist come in and paint grass onto the concrete. The only thing lacking will be the softness you are looking for. It will be permanent and never need cutting! An alternate method is to order artificial turf:)
Just got up and walked away!
But can goats eat it?
There will be an increased need for goat pasture in the near future.
Bentgrass is a perennial, so once out there it regrows year after year, whereas most GM crops - mainly soybeans, maize and canola (oilseed rape) - are annuals, unable to reproduce, harvested each year and replaced with an entirely new crop the next. Another worry is that unlike the other GM crops. . ."
I hope that someone makes the linkage. I'm all for improvements, such as rice that is high in beta keratin (golden rice). But then the ugly side comes along with folks like Monsanto who want to stymie the seed savers with modified crops (you must buy the seeds every year). While it hasn't happened *yet*, imagine the type of disaster if a major food crop were to be affected by one of Monsanto's (or any other concern) creations cross-pollinating. I'm not overreacting, just voicing a healthy concern.
This bit about the grass underscores that concern.
It sounds like good grass but agree about wanting some of the inch high grass. Someone genetically engineer that and they will make a fortune. I'll buy some I dont care if it's gengeneered.
The Brady Bunch...The Brady Bunch......what a lawn!
Oh no! Superior grass escapes!
USDA folks must kill it, fine us, dig it up, burn it, and make us plant inferior grass.
Big fines, huge cleanup. USDA in charge.
At least 50 million must be spent to prevent superior grass from spreading.
Replant golf courses with weeds.
We don't need to worry about the escaped grass. I know some golfers who will take care of it. All we need to do is drop a golf ball on it. They are so bad, the grass will be gone before the ball.
If you ever see grass get up and walk you have to get a pic for us.
The seeds move too!!!??? DANG!!
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