Genetic pollution is the term critics use for the unintended spread of genes from genetically modified organisms into wild relatives or conventional crops through cross-pollination — and, more broadly, for any unwanted mixing of engineered genes with natural gene pools. The concern is that traits such as herbicide tolerance could escape into weeds, creating harder-to-control “volunteer” plants, or that modified genes could alter wild ecosystems in unpredictable ways. Regulators address the risk through isolation distances, buffer zones, and coexistence rules for GM and non-GM farming, while the organic and conventional sectors worry about admixture threatening their certification and markets. Supporters of the technology argue the risks are manageable and analogous to gene flow that has always occurred between cultivated and wild plants.