Environmental Impacts of Genetically Engineered Microbial and Viral Biocontrol Agents

Abstract

This chapter identifies the positive and negative consequences that the genetically engineered biological control agents are capable of having in the environment, and describes how to develop safe biocontrol agents to the extent that is currently known. Environmental consequences of engineered control agents can be placed into two categories. Some effects are primary and specific, that is, they result directly from the introduction of specific agents into the environment. In addition to agent-specific effects, cumulative effects will result from releasing genetically engineered biocontrol agents into the environment overtime. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its research program on engineered organisms, is sponsoring research to develop and validate procedures for testing the effects of microbial biocontrol agents on non-target, beneficial arthropods. Environmental safety requires knowledge of genetics, molecular and organismal biology, population and community ecology, evolutionary biology, and numerous other disciplines.