Case Study: Genetic Modification of the Poplar Tree
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Dr. Bradshaw is working as part of a team of researchers that uses the agrobacterium method to study and potentially alter the genes responsible for wood production in the poplar tree. Though the poplar tree is not itself considered a viable source of wood production, the poplar's fast growth, ease of generantional propagation and controlled pollination, and the near complete sequencing of the poplar genome make it an excellent model for the study of wood production in trees.
With persistent concerns over deforestation and habitat disruption and increasing lumber consumption, both lumber industry and environmental groups are interested in the creation of high-yield, efficient, "domesticated" trees. Such a genetically modified (GM) tree, might allow the world's growing wood demand to be met with a small fraction of the land used now.
However, Bradshaw's research interests extend well beyond wood production. He is interested in answering "basic scientific questions about tree formation." Trees have evolved on numerous separate occasions in evolutionary history, suggesting that the tree morphology is particularly advantageous and therefore of research interest. Also, unlike the study of Aridopsis, a weed that was the first and most popular plant genome sequenced, the study of the poplar tree has the potential to augment our understanding of the genetic foundation for specific plant features such as perennial lifespan and vegetative dormancy. Trees also have a number of other environmental valuable properties such as carbon dioxide sequestration and bioremiadiation (the natural degradation of contaminants) which may be elucidated or enhanced through genetic research.
While the scientific value of his and others' tree research may be immediately obvious, Bradshaw warns that genetically modified trees probably won't and shouldn't be commercially available for quite some time. Research into GM trees is still young, and the potential dangers of GM trees are not yet fully understood. Trees, like many plants, are quite capable of hybridizing with wild realtives, and some scientists, such as Faith Campbell of the American Lands Alliance, believe that the competitive dominance of these GM trees could lead to harmful decreases in biodiversity. While he considers the potential environmental dangers of GM "domestic" trees to be minimal, Bradshaw agrees that these, as well as other GMO's, will need to undergo considerable controlled scientific monitoring before they could be released confidently for commercial use. Furthermore, even when an environmentally-safe commercial tree could be produced, a lumber industry which would have to wait many years before their initial investments would grow into harvestable wood, would be reluctant to make a long-term, high-risk investment in genetically modified trees.
The issues surrounding the acceptability of GM Trees are complex, but Bradshaw, more than others, has a particular interest in maintaining a well-informed public. His labs at the Center for Urban Horticulture were destroyed in a fire set by the Earth Liberation Front last year, because the ELF claimed Bradshaw is unleashing "mutant genes into the environment that is [sic] certain to cause irreversible harm to forest ecosystems." Ironically, none of the transgenic specimens that Bradshaw was working with had ever been outside of laboratory walls. That the ELF undertook such drastic measures with so little knowledge of the motivations for and techniques of Bradshaw's research is particularly alarming to BRadshaw and other scientists. In the end, Bradshaw suggests that the eventual acceptance and use of GM trees will ultimately depend on public opinion, and though he claims little interest in whether GM trees are ever commercially produced, he feel that research in this area is important and that the public's opinion should be a well informed one.