Assessing familiarity: the role of plant characterization.
Thomas E. Nickson, Michael J. Horak · 2006
This paper presents an overview of the concept of Familiarity and plant characterization. Familiarity is a concept useful to decision-makers because it comes from preexisting knowledge, experimental results as well as expert opinion, and experience gained over time. Familiarity encompasses familiarity with the crop, the trait, the environment and interactions. Plant characterization focuses on the collection and evaluation of biological and ecological data on the GM crop. It is based on a comparative assessment approach that considers the GM crop in the context of an appropriate non-GM control and the known variation for the crop. This discussion will include overviews of the scientific elements of the studies involved as well as an interpretation approach for evaluating statistically significant differences. Plant characterization data will be discussed in the context of the concept of Familiarity. Key words Plant characterization, risk assessment, Familiarity, genetically modified crops,