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Why might genetically engineering a crop to be herbicide resistant result in producing weeds that are herbicide resistant?
While it's certainly possible that plants will develop tolerance to any herbicide, it's also possible that the development of herbicide resistant crops - both through genetic engineering and artificial selection - may make it more likely. [ Presently, herbicide resistant crops have been developed to resist only a handful of herbicides. This may encourage farmers to repeatedly use only those herbicides, which may lead to weeds becoming resistant to them. (Some weeds started out resistant to them, and have never been affected.) On the other hand, those herbicides have been designed to be
hard for plants to develop resistance to them.
One thing that's unlikely to happen is the rise of "superweeds" - weeds that resist many herbicides. Bacteria which gain resistance to many antibiotics - some they've never been exposed to - are sometimes called "superbugs". However, they gain resistance to many antibiotics through a process of genetic exchange called conjugation. No higher organisms engage in conjugation; they have to be exposed to stresses and evolve resistance to them through natural selection, a far slower process. Furthermore, unlike germs, which can only be attacked by poisons (since they're so small), weeds can always be cut down, dug up, or plowed under. ]
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selymi|Points 11671|
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Asked 10/25/2013 10:28:59 AM
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