[Taxacom] Taxonomy and GMOs

[Ashley Nicholas]

Dear Taxacomers,
 
I dread to open this Pandora's box but I have recently been approached
for advice by someone drawing up legislation about the naming of GMOs.
If a GMO becomes reproductively isolated from its parent species (but
can reproduce with itself) does it not become a new species that now
needs to be named and described? If so does someone doing this then
follow the respective Codes of Nomenclature or do special procedures and
naming practices need to be followed? Do we treat them the same as
'normal' species (whatever that means!) or do they deserve to be treated
differently as we do for horticultural plants - in which cultivars need
to be registered? I have been unable to find any published literature on
this and could find nothing in the ICBN Vienna code.  A colleague also
tells me the Horticultural Code does not deal with this matter either.
 
This not only has implications for taxonomy and classification, but
also for the new Phylocode - how is it going to place and contextualise
these GMO species which can involve lateral gene transfer from very
unrelated organisms? I try to convince myself that I should not be too
shocked by all this given that nature has been creating GMOs for
billions of years. 
 
Any advice and published references would be gratefully appreciated.
Ashley Nicholas
 
 
 
 
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Associate Professor & Curator Ward Herbarium
School of Biological & Conservation Science
Westville Campus
University of KwaZulu-Natal,
Private Bag X54001, 
Durban, 4000, South Africa
Tel.:+27-31-260 7719  Fax.: +27-31-260 2029
nicholasa at ukzn.ac.za 
http://www.ukzn.ac.za/Biology/AshleyNicholas506.aspx
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Aldous Huxley said:
It is a little embarrassing that, after 45 years of research and study,
the best advice I can give to people is to be a little kinder to each
other
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