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Invasive Species

Invasive species have been a concern since the first decision to move an animal, plant, or insect to make life easier for humans. In fact one way to date native american artifacts of the Americas is the presence of dandelion imagery. If the Native American artifact has a dandelion symbol on it, archeologists can date it after the appearance of European settlers who brought the dandelion with them from Europe. Today, most recognize that "non-indigenous" or "non-native" plants or animals can adversely affect the habitats and bioregions they invade economically, environmentally, and/or ecologically. Examples reeking havoc in the USA include Kudzu and  Asian Carp from Japan, Cheatgrass, Russian Olive, and  English Ivy from Europe.

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Rogue Genetically Modified Corn has now invaded areas where farmers never planted it. Pollen drift cannot be contained, so the GM pollen has spread to the heritage species of corn. Mexico is long believed to be the place where corn developed over thousands of years of cultivation. Scientists looking to preserve the original corn species and collect seeds for future research travelled far into Mexico, yet not one type of corn was free of GM genes.  

UPDATE: Mexico has now banned the cultivation and import of GM corn to protect its rich heritage.

Invasion

PlantBot Genetics located this invasive plant in our local big-box store. Clearly, plants pay no attention to human-made boundaries.



 

Attackaratus



This PlantBot is so fierce and hardy that when PlantBot Geneticists find one, they immediately (at great risks to themselves) try to contain it in a sealed container for study.  Attackaratus is a SuperBug specimen resistant to the inserted Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt gene in modified crops designed to kill insects.  It is inevitable that resistance builds with each insect generation and our first-rate team of etymologists is hopeful the Attackaratus will be contained. Thus far, current pesticides cannot destroy increasing populations of these bugs. Stay tuned to see what we develop next!

Unidentified Wood Species

 

Found in a wood pile in the Catskill Mountains of NY,  we have no idea how this PlantBot was created or how it found itself in this particular pile of wood.

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