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[–] Amateur_Wizard 1 point 2 points (+3|-1) ago 

theoretically you could just breed that trait.

Take A FUCKLOAD of plants and time, and eventually these plants will grow immune to repeated spraying. Its happened already.

http://takeactiononweeds.com/knowing-your-weeds/resistance/

theoretically you don't need to genetically modify plants at all. Just manipulate their environment so they change themselves to suit your needs. You just have to have a large population to begin with, because 99.9% is going to die.

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[–] klobos ago 

Technically, yes, but it would be a near impossibility or take millions of years. Take plants genetically modified to resist Roundup. Without the plants being exposed to that chemical the plants that are immune to Roundup would not have any genetic advantage. Meaning that trait would not be necessary for survival and could easily die out in a generation or two. What you would need to do is spray every plant with Roundup and see which ones,if any survive. Then you could breed that plant. Although at that point you are left with only one strain, and you better hope that nothing else threatens that species.