ABSTRACT
I contend that GE crops will lead to further agricultural intensifica tion and ecological theory predicts that as long as transgenic crops follow closely the pesticide paradigm, such biotechnological prod ucts will do nothing but reinforce the pesticide treadmill in agroeco systems, thus legitimizing the concerns that many environmentalists and some scientists have expressed regarding the possible environ mental risks of genetically engineered organisms. In fact, there are sev eral widely accepted environmental drawbacks associated with the rapid deployment and widespread commercialization of such crops in large monocultures,8 including the following:
1. The spread of transgenes to related weeds or conspecifics via crop-weed hybridization.
