Implications of GMO cultivation and monitoring-series

This special series publishes some key contributions presented at the GMLS II conference. The articles describe different aspects of large-scale cultivation of GMOs:Overview of the series, thematically oriented:1. A case study of GM maize gene flow in South African Chris Viljoen, Lukeshni Chetty2. Setup, efforts and significance of a GMO monitoring program - An Austrian case study Kathrin Pascher, Dietmar Moser, Stefan Dullinger, Leopold Sachslehner, Patrick Gros, Norbert Sauberer, Andreas Traxler, Georg Grabherr, Thomas Frank3. A modeling assessment of geneflow in smallholder agriculture in West Africa Denis Worlanyo Aheto, Hauke Reuter, Broder Breckling4. Monitoring of Bt-maize in Germany by means of Open Source based WebGIS Lukas Kleppin, Gunther Schmidt, Winfried Schr？der5. Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants - Concepts and Controversies Angelika, Hilbeck, Matthias Meier, J？rg R？mbke, Stephan J？nsch, Hanka Teichmann, Beatrix Tappeser6. Genetically modified crops safety assessments: present limits and possible improvements. Gilles-Eric Séralini, Robin Mesnage, Emilie Clair, Steeve Gress, Jo？l Spiroux de Vend？mois, Dominique Cellier7. From risk assessment to in-context trajectory evaluation: GMOs and their social implications Vincenzo Pavone, Joanna Goven, Riccardo Guarino8. Systemic risks of genetically modified crops: the need for new approaches to risk assessment Hartmut Meyerto be continuedThe conference emphasised the necessity of independent and publicly accessible research results for GMO investigations. The conference illustrated that GMO risk assessment can build on relevant information, e.g. referring to biochemical characterisation, physiological and agronomic studies. However, considerable gaps exist in the assessment of biodiversity effects, and how non-target organisms would be impacted by GM crop cultivation. Landscape and regional studies are even scarcer. Uncertainties and the possibility to come up with much more reliable