I think at this stage it would be unlikely for any non-corporate breeders to purposefully sell stock that contained a “dead-end” trait. But I think a trait like this could easily be propagated by accident, or through cross contamination form nearby grows using genetically modified stock like the line from phylos.
Personally I am very cautious when buying and accepting seeds into my grow. I avoid buying seeds from any of the large corporate euro breeders (dinafem, HSO humboldt seed organization, barneys farm, etc.).
I always do a ton of research on a breeder, their practices, their philosophy, and the history of the work they have put out, to make sure that their business practices are up to my moral standards.
Before I make a purchase from a seed bank, I contact the breeder directly and ask them if that bank is an authorized retailer, and if they can verify that the seeds are genuine. You would be surprised how many times breeders have told me they don’t work with that seed bank and the seeds must be fake.
Here is a post with a list of scam seed banks. Rocket Seeds and Crop King seeds apparently selling counterfeit product - #2 by zephyr
any stock that can’t be verified by the original breeder could really be anything from herm brickweed seed, to copycat lines made by one of the big corporations.
I could easily see an irresponsible independent breeder experimenting with gene splicing and then propagating their modified plants into breeding programs without telling their customers. Now that crispr is available to consumers this could be happening right under our noses and people wouldn’t know the consequences of these gene edits until multiple generations down the line.
In general, most crispr gene edits have no effect until they have been bred for several generations. this is why it is so dangerous for this technology to be in the hands of untrained consumers.
Heck I have seen people propose gene editing and gene tagging for seed run co-ops and other collectives on overgrow. Just take a look at the mutant plant thread. People are trying to grow seeds that were sold to them as gene spliced hybrids of hops and cannabis, and they are enthusiastic about using those techniques themselves.
The “breeder” they got the seeds from is a scammer, and the seeds are fake. But the fact that they are jumping at the chance to grow and breed mutant gene-edited plants and spread them around the globe is concerning.