The first major wave in the conflict over modern biotechnologies took place in the United States at the federal level. Biotechnology proponents were able to capture the federal regulatory structure, so today, a second wave of anti-biotech activism focused at the local and state levels is emerging. This article examines what enables or constrains place-based anti-biotech activism through a case study of the conflict over genetically engineered (GE) animals in Massachusetts. I demonstrate how, in spite of a highly visible animal advocacy and anti-GE presence, GE animal proponents have mobilized effective politics of place strategies to suppress local debate by exercising territorial control in relation to two places - the state of Massachusetts as a whole and the animal research laboratory specifically.

Plastids (chloroplasts) are maternally inherited in most crops. Maternal inheritance excludes plastid genes and transgenes from pollen transmission. Therefore, plastid transformation is considered a superb tool for ensuring transgene containment and improving the biosafety of transgenic plants. Here, we have assessed the strictness of maternal inheritance and the extent to which plastid transformation technology confers an increase in transgene confinement. We describe an experimental system facilitating stringent selection for occasional paternal plastid transmission. In a large screen, we detected low-level paternal inheritance of transgenic plastids in tobacco. Whereas the frequency of transmission into the cotyledons of F1 seedlings was approx1.58 x 105 (on 100% cross-fertilization), transmission into the shoot apical meristem was significantly lower (2.86 x 106). Our data demonstrate that plastid transformation provides an effective tool to increase the biosafety of transgenic plants. However, in cases where pollen transmission must be prevented altogether, stacking with other containment methods will be necessary to eliminate the residual outcrossing risk. 10.1073/pnas.0700008104

Genetically modified maize (Zea mays L.) produced for regulated products such as pharmaceutical or industrial proteins will require methods to confine transgenic pollen. In one production system, nontransgenic maize would be used to pollinate detasseled transgenic inbred plants. Resulting hybrid kernels would be used for protein extraction or seed increase. The effect of different female inbred detasseling efficiency levels on gene flow was tested at three locations in southeastern Missouri in 2000 and 2001. Pollen sources were yellow inbred isolines representing transgenic females planted in alternating rows with white inbred maize representing nontransgenic males. During detasseling, female plants were intentionally missed at rates of 0, 730, 1460, and 7300 tassels ha-1. Each detasseling treatment was matched with a maize isoline and traceable marker. White hybrid trap plots were planted on three dates at 200 and 300 m from pollen sources. Dates that maximized silking synchronization with yellow isoline tasseling were selected for sampling. Gene flow was detected by counting yellow kernels in white maize plots. When no tassels were removed from an isoline, the highest recorded gene flow was 0.03% at the 200 m and 0.02% at the 300 m isolation distances. At greater detasseling levels, gene flow decreased. Gene flow was 0.0013% or less when 730 tassels ha-1 remained. When complete detasseling was intended, one positive kernel with a tracer gene was detected at 200 m, and none was detected at 300 m. For effective control of regulated transgenes in pollen by detasseling, complete and timely tassel removal will be necessary.