Biosafety Issues of Unintended Horizontal Transfer of Recombinant DNA

Abstract

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is the stable transfer of genetic material from one organism to another without natural reproduction between organisms. Genetic exchange occurs by the transfer of donor genetic material across cellular boundaries, followed by heritable incorporation to the genome of the recipient organism. The first description of a horizontal gene transfer has been a major advance in molecular biology. Microbes acquire DNA from a variety of sources. In addition to conjugation, transformation and transduction, other diverse mechanisms of genetic material uptake occur in nature. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) often contain recombined genes (transgenes) collected from different species to enable the expression of new traits. Unintended HGT of rDNA to both prokaryotes and Eukaryotes could pose risks to human health, the environment. From the current scientific evidence, HGT from GMOs to other organisms presents negligible risks to human health and safety or the environment due to the rarity of such events relative to those HGT events that occur in nature.