This paper is relevant to the impact areas in the following areas:
| Crops | Wheat |
| Traits | Fungal Resistance |
| Countries | Not country-specific |
| Regions | Not region-specific |
| Tags | annelids, antifungal, decomposition, genetically engineered, lumbricids, wheat |
The use of genetically engineered (GE) plants increased considerably during the last fifteen years. Starting 1996 with six countries cultivating GE plants, today 25 countries grow biotech crops commercially, covering an area of 134 millionha in 2009 (James, 2009). The development in cultivation of GE crops from 1996 to now reveals that the commercial cultivation of GE crops will probably further increase over the coming years (Sanvido et al., 2007). Genetic engineering is, beside potential benefits like more agricultural output or less pesticide use, accompanied by concerns about potential detrimental effects on the environment. GE plants will possibly change ecological interactions and ecosystem services such as decomposition since they will eventually be grown under field conditions (Mulder and Lotz, 2009). Hence it is essential to do ecological risk assessments (ERA) prior to the release of GE plants and assess all effects on their surrounding environment and evaluate whether ecosystem services and functioning are affected. The impact on non-target organisms is one of the major concerns about genetically engineered plants (Sanvido et al., 2007).
Genetically Engineered Antifungal Wheat has no Detrimental Effects on the Key Soil Species Lumbricus terrestris (held on an external server, and so may require additional authentication details)
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