AlterNet Newsletter

Frankenforests: GE Trees Threaten Ecosystem Collapse By Dara Colwell,
AlterNet Posted on August 2, 2007, Printed on August 2, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/58477/ In China, over a million poplar
trees have been planted since 2002 to combat deforestation. But the
move has not been widely applauded by everyone.

The poplars, which are genetically engineered, are China's first
foray into the world of transgenic forestry -- or "frankenforests"
-- and other countries are not far behind.

As the biotech industry continues to lay the groundwork for genetically
engineered crops -- poorly tested, widely debated and yet plugged
as a technological wonder -- a potentially greater threat to
biodiversity has begun to emerge. Pushed forward by biotech and the
multibillion-dollar timber industry, genetically engineered trees
are the latest invention.