Rice containing a transgenic modification that makes it resistant to a common herbicide can pass that genetic trait to weedy rice, prompting powerful growth even without a weed-killer to trigger the modification benefit, new research shows. Previously, scientists have found that when a genetically modified trait passes from a crop plant to a closely related weed, the weed gains the crop’s engineered benefit – resistance to pests, for example – only in the presence of the offending insects.
This new study is a surprising example of gene flow from crops to weeds that makes weeds more vigorous even without an environmental trigger, the researchers say.
Share this article
Read the full, original story here: “Genetically modified rice brings benefit to wild neighbors”
