GM trees are coming on in leaps and bounds. The fruit of the Arctic Apple-tree is making
its appearance in American Midwest stores [1], but the big GM tree event is
'short-rotation woody crops'.
Short-rotation woody crops are fast growing trees which can
be harvested in just a few years for industrial purposes such as paper and
biofuels. Eucalyptus, which escaped from
its native Australia when Captain Cook arrived there, has become one such major
crop since the 19th Century. Because
different species are adaptable to many local climates, plantations are now
found on every continent. The next wave,
just beginning to gain momentum, is GM eucalyptus.
