GMOs: Missing the nuance

A series of U.K. government-sponsored studies published last week showed that it's not possible to make broad generalizations about how genetic modification of crops affects levels of weed and insect levels in fields. They also showed that separation of fields and control of volunteer plants can keep gene flow between GM and non-GM crops below the 0.1% threshold set by the EU. Not surprisingly, neither of those conclusions was obvious from media reports, which concluded that coexistence of GM and conventional crops would never be possible.

The studies themselves were much more nuanced. The eight studies, which were published in a peer-reviewed scientific paper, concluded that growing conventional beet and spring rape was better for many groups of wildlife than GMO varieties. Some insect groups like bees and butterflies were recorded more frequently in and around fields with conventional crops because the fields contained more weeds providing food and cover. ...