Analysis of observed adverse effects from the release of genetically modified organisms
When it comes to identifying signs of (undesirable) environmental effects of transgenic organisms release experiments occupy a central role. This is why the gathering, communication, and discussion of release data relevant for the environment should be of central importance. Gathering of such data is faced with certain difficulties: it is estimated that world-wide ecological data are only collected in less than 1 % of releases of genetically modified organisms.
Neither at the national nor at the international level has there been any co-ordination of release-related biosafety research. Also, efforts to consolidate and process the data and results gained have been limited so far. The present study tries to partly fill this gap.