Dangerous Liaisons?

"In Dangerous Liaisons? geneticist Norman C. Ellstrand examines these and other questions. He begins with basic information about the natural hybridization process. He then describes what we now know about hybridization between the world's most important crops - such as wheat, rice, maize, and soybeans - and their wild relatives. Such hybridization, Ellstrand explains, is not rare, and it has occasionally produced a substantial impact. In some cases, the result was problematic weeds. In others, crop genes have diluted natural diversity to the point that wild populations of certain rare species were absorbed into the gene pool of the more common crop, bringing the wild species to the brink of extinction." "Ellstrand concludes with a look to the future. Will engineered crops pose a greater threat than traditional crops? If so, can gene flow and hybridization be managed to control the escape of engineered genes? This book will appeal to academics, policy makers, students, and all with an interest in environmental issues."--Jacket.