title: Environmental impacts of genetically modified plants: A review.
abstract: Powerful scientific techniques have caused dramatic expansion of genetically modified crops leading to altered agricultural practices posing direct and indirect environmental implications. Despite the enhanced yield potential, risks and biosafety concerns associated with such GM crops are the fundamental issues to be addressed. An increasing interest can be noted among the researchers and policy makers in exploring unintended effects of transgenes associated with gene flow, flow of naked DNA, weediness and chemical toxicity. The current state of knowledge reveals that GM crops impart damaging impacts on the environment such as modification in crop pervasiveness or invasiveness, the emergence of herbicide and insecticide tolerance, transgene stacking and disturbed biodiversity, but these impacts require a more in-depth view and critical research so as to unveil further facts. Most of the reviewed scientific resources provide similar conclusions and currently there is an insufficient amount of data available and up until today, the consumption of GM plant products are safe for consumption to a greater extent with few exceptions. This paper updates the undesirable impacts of GM crops and their products on target and non-target species and attempts to shed light on the emerging challenges and threats associated with it. Underpinning research also realizes the influence of GM crops on a disturbance in biodiversity, development of resistance and evolution slightly resembles with the effects of non-GM cultivation. Future prospects are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology and Forensics, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece; Educational Scientific Center of Nanotechnology, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok 690950, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Aristidis M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Tsatsakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Chonnam National University, Yeosu, Chonnam 59626, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Muhammad Amjad
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nawaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry-Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Larisa, Greece.
authors.forename: Demetrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kouretas
authors.affiliation: Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Balias
authors.affiliation: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, POB 40 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Savolainen
authors.affiliation: Federal Research Centre of Nutrition, Biotechnology and Food Safety, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Victor A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Tutelyan
authors.affiliation: Educational Scientific Center of Nanotechnology, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok 690950, Russian Federation; Pacific Institute of Geography, FEB RAS, Vladivostok 690041, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Kirill S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Golokhvast
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Dong
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Chonnam National University, Yeosu, Chonnam 59626, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Chonnam National University, Yeosu, Chonnam 59626, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: chung@chonnam.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Gyuhwa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D004777:Environment; D033161:Government Regulation; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011057:Politics
keywords: Environmental risks; GM plants; Gene flow; Toxicity; Transgenes; Weediness