Model-based calculating tool for gene flow

The potential socioeconomic and environmental impacts caused by transgene flow from genetically engineered (GE) crops have stimulated worldwide biosafety concerns. A recent study published in AoB PLANTS by Wang and Lu provides a model-based calculating tool/software that can accurately calculate pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF) frequencies of wind-pollinated plant species by including five biological and climatic parameters. The tool can easily be applied by users who are not familiar with mathematical modeling. The required parameters can be measured directly in the field without conducting PMGF experiments, which makes this tool practical for estimating PMGF frequencies. The tool will be helpful for estimating transgene flow and its potential impacts, in addition to determining isolation distances between GE and non-GE crops.