Event report International scientific workshop ‘Stacked Bt genes: assessment of effects on non-target organisms’

In recent years, insect resistant GM plants expressing multiple Bt proteins have become increasingly common. The production of multiple Bt proteins by these GM plants raises new questions for the assessment of potential risks to non-target organisms. The main question is whether the effect of a Bt protein could change due to the presence of other Bt proteins. In other words, is it possible that Bt proteins interact and that due to this interaction the impact of a GM crop on NTOs changes when compared to a GM crop expressing a single Bt protein.
The Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), La Comisión Bioseguridad (CNB), the Scientific Institute of Public Health (WIV-ISP) and the Netherlands Commission on Genetic Modification (COGEM) organised a scientific workshop to discuss aspects that are important when assessing the effects of multiple Bt proteins and to identify practical approaches to assess these effects. This workshop was held in Amsterdam in October 2014.
The event report of the workshop is now available. The presentations given, remarks made and discussion points put forward during the workshop are summarised in this event report.