Biological containment (sometimes called biocontainment) describes measures aimed at preventing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their transgenes from spreading into the environment.
In agriculture, biocontainment is helpful in protecting conventional and organic fields from admixture with GM crops growing on neighbouring fields. With the end of the de facto moratorium on genetically modified plants in Europe, several research programmes (e.g. Co-Extra, Transcontainer) have begun investigating biological containment strategies for GMOs. Among the techniques under consideration are three major strategies based on cleistogamous plants, male-sterile plants and transplastomic plants.
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Famous quotes containing the word biological:
“In America every woman has her set of girl-friends; some are cousins, the rest are gained at school. These form a permanent committee who sit on each other’s affairs, who “come out” together, marry and divorce together, and who end as those groups of bustling, heartless well-informed club-women who govern society. Against them the Couple of Ehepaar is helpless and Man in their eyes but a biological interlude.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)