GM plants are the result of one of the most rapidly adopted plantbased technologies ever deployed. In the U.S. alone, hundreds of millions of people and billions of farm animals have been consuming products from these crops for more than 15 years. GMOs represent a flashpoint for attitudes about food, plants, plant conservation,
and the role of gardens in economic botany and crop wild relative research. As the primary delivery network for informal plant science education in the country, the public garden community has barely scratched the surface of this complex, controversial, and criticallyimportant topic. This session will gather experts on the history, science, practice, environmental effects, and public engagement of GMOs to present a crash course on GMOs.
Presenters: A. Novy, United States Botanic Garden, Washington, District of
Columbia; P. Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri; R. Olsen,
U.S. National Arboretum, Washington, District of Columbia; W. Tyner, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, Indiana; M. Smith and S. Davidson Evanega, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York
