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Issue: Potential Gene Escape and Development of 'Superweeds' One fear with the development of herbicide tolerant, viral-resistant or insect-resistant GM plants is that they will outcross with wild relatives resulting in "superweeds" that are more competitive. More competitive weeds are more difficult to control and may make weed management more complicated, expensive, all chemically intensive. Weeds that have a competitive advantage will produce more seeds and be serious in following years. The potential for outcrossing with weeds exists when crops are grown in areas with weedy relatives that inter breed. In the U.S. for example, we do not have weeds that interbreed with corn, soybeans or potato, so genes inserted into these plants have a negligible chance of escaping into weedy relatives. However, GM squash and canola varieties can interbreed with wild relatives in the US, so the potential for outcrossing with wild relatives and the effect that it may have on weed populations needs to studied and considered prior to GM crops receiving government approval for commercial production.