Schaal, Barbara

Schaal, Barbara. 2007. Challenges for applications of transgenic plants from the perspective of population biology and environmental issues. Paper presented at the Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences, From Functional Genomics of Model Organisms to Crop Plants for Global Health. Washington, D.C., April 3—5, 2006. 

Last spring, I missed a few of the best gardening days to visit the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. There, Dr. Barbara Schaal spoke about her studies with rice weeds. In collaboration with colleagues in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Schaal s research team found that a wild rice species can cross-hybridize with domesticated non-GE rice at a low frequency resulting in a hybrid variety of rice (Schaal 2007). The hybrids do not thrive in the wild because the wild rice species is better adapted and therefore quickly dominate the hybrids. For Thai farmers, however, the hybrids create a weedy nuisance. The weeds are hard to remove because the seeds shatter and build up in the soil leading to more weeds the next season. Yields of the rice crop decline proportionately with the increase in weeds. 

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