Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

Early-tier tests insufficient for GMO risk assessment

Nature Biotechnology volume 25, pages 35–36 (2007)Cite this article

To the editor:

As field ecologists involved in risk assessment research on Bacillus thuringiensis toxin (Bt)-maize in Europe for several years now, we are very pleased that the publication last January of an article by Romeis et al. (Nat. Biotechnol. 24, 63–71, 2006) and an earlier paper by Firbank et al. Nat. Biotechnol. (23, 1475–1476, 2005) is encouraging discussion of the development of environmental risk assessment (ERA) of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We hope that dialog stimulated by these articles will aid the design and further development of ERA. With regard to this, Romeis et al. claim that the first-tier laboratory experiments “are relatively simple in design [...] and the results are easy to interpret.” This may be true, but we question whether this automatically makes them ecologically meaningful, as seems to be the implication. With regard to any ERA, we would also point out that (i) acute exposure testing is not sufficient, (ii) region-specific tests need to be performed and (iii) that field tests need to be carried out.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Losey, J.E. et al. Nature 399, 214 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Sears, M.K. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98, 11937–11942 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Hellmich, R.L. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98, 11925–11930 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Wraight, C.L. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97, 7700–7703 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Dively, G.P. et al. Environ. Entomol. 33, 1116–1125 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Darvas, B. et al. 1st Hungarian-Taiwanese Entomological Symposium, October 11–12, 2004, Budapest (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Darvas, B. et al. Növényvédelem 40, 441–449 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Lauber, E. et al. 52nd Hungarian Plant Protection Days, February 23–24, 2006.

  9. Lövei, G. & Arpaia, S. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 114, 1–14 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Pierce, C.M.F. et al. J. Econ. Entomol. 94, 1361–1368 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Reardon, B.J. et al. J. Econ. Entomol. 97, 1198–1201 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Basel, Institute of Environmental Geosciences, Bernoullistrasse 30, Basel, CH-4056, Switzerland

    Andreas Lang

  2. Plant Protection Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1525, Budapest, PO Box 102, Herman Ottó u. 15, Hungary

    Éva Lauber & Béla Darvas

Authors
  1. Andreas Lang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Éva Lauber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Béla Darvas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lang, A., Lauber, É. & Darvas, B. Early-tier tests insufficient for GMO risk assessment. Nat Biotechnol 25, 35–36 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0107-35

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0107-35

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing