Why Settle For Green Grass When It Could Be Hot Pink?

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Subject:  Why Settle For Green Grass When It Could Be Hot Pink?
Date:     Fri, 24 May 2002 13:22:36 -0400
From:      Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

May 23, 2002 The Ottawa Citizen A1 / Front

Why Settle For Green Grass When It Could Be Hot Pink?

Gene researchers who have spent more than a decade creating farm  crops that resist disease or produce more food are turning their  gene-engineering techniques to grasses and ornamental plants for the  home garden. Don't call these creations "biotech" flowers though.  That just might scare off consumers worried about genetic engineering.

The industry's new label is "superior" plants. During the summer of  2000, Scotts Company and Monsanto entered into an agreement to  introduce genetically modified grass and ornamental plants into lawns  and golf courses. Nicknamed "low mow" by company scientists, one  breed was designed to grow at a slower pace, reducing the need for  frequent mowing.

Another breed was genetically modified to withstand applications of  the potent herbicide Roundup, which normally kills grass. Monsanto  already makes "Roundup Ready" corn and soybeans. Why not Roundup  Ready grass?

Rob Witherspoon, director of the University of Guelph's Turfgrass  Institute, was quoted as saying, "Mainly we're looking at disease  resistance and stress resistance," and that the main customer is  expected to be golf courses. A Roundup Ready version of creeping  bentgrass, the main kind used on greens, is expected to hit the  market this summer or next, he said. Roundup Ready Kentucky bluegrass  (for lawns) is close behind.

As well, he hopes the next genetic tweaking will transfer a gene  found occurring naturally in a British grass variety that stops  chlorophyll from breaking down. Grass with this gene doesn't turn  brown in a hot, dry summer.

Industry observers say Scotts is far in the lead in the race to  harness biotech's secrets for the lawn and garden. An Australian  company, Florigene, has struggled for years to develop a blue rose  using a petunia gene. While the rose eludes it, a mauve carnation,  Moondust, sprang from its research in 1996. Carnations, like roses,  have no natural blue-purple shades. (The ones in flower shops are  dyed.)

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