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Biotechnology is
among the most promising
new technologies to benefit
farmers.
However like every new
technology it raises questions
on
Social/Economic
Ethical &
Environmental issues.
The Biotechnology Research
and Education Initiative
(BREI) has been formed to
address these issues. –
http://www.ca.uky.edu/brei/
See: The Kentucky Tobacco Research
and Development Center
http://www.uky.edu
Bioethics
Health and Food
Safety
Farm Impact
Research and
Science
About Us
News
Environmental
Topics
FAQs
Glossary
Just for Kids /
Teachers
BREI is a multi-disciplinary team of research, extension and
teaching professionals from the College of Agriculture.
Sharing information about agricultural biotechnology
through:
•Publications
•Visual Media
•Education Curriculum
•Web-based Information
•In-service Training
Comments and suggestions are welcome, send to BREI.
Copyright © 2000, University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture
www.ca.uky.edu/BREI
Our new century is predicted to be the “Century of Biology” as
the last century was the “Century of Chemistry & Physics”.
Until ~ 100 years ago most building materials, everyday
materials in the home, fuels and clothing came from our farms
and forests. In the last century we have seen a major shift to
such materials coming from petrochemicals rather than plants
and animals.
Petrochemicals come from what were once plants and animals
but are not a readily renewable resource. Now with modern
technology, particularly biotechnology, we can derive more and
more of the materials humankind needs in the future from
plants and animals produced by our farmers. Thus in the
future, farmers should play an increasingly vital role in our
economic prosperity in addition to their essential role in food
production.
From our state government leaders to our state
universities, Kentucky is working to be a significant
player in this “new economy”. Biotechnology has
already spawned a number of new companies in KY
(see URL below for a list):
http://www.biokentucky.com/
http://www.ca.uky.edu/agbiotechnology/
What has happened to the
farmer’s share of the food dollar?
1999: 20.6%, 2000: 19.9%, 2001: 21%, 2002e: 20%
Adding processing value to seed can reduce or reverse this trend
A KEY ELEMENT OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY/
GENETIC ENGINEERING
Recombinant DNA Methods
Can be Used To Move A Gene
From Any Organism To Any
Other Organism
Chromosomal
DNA
Ti plasmid
T-DNA
Chromosome
T-DNA
Crown
Gall
A. tumefaciens
Agrobacterium
tumefaciens
Plant chromosomes
containing T-DNA
Plant crown gall tissue
naturally transgenic
plasmid
Recombinant
plasmid
Desired DNA
Plant cell
inoculated with
A. tumefaciens
Regenerant
Plant cell containing Desired DNA
Agrobacterium
tumefaciens
containing Wt
Ti plasmid
Adult plant expressing
desired trait (DNA)
A. tumefaciens containing
engineered Ti plasmid
Cultured plant cells
Inserting foreign genes into plant cells. A plasmid containing DNA is cut with a restriction enzyme & DNA of
desired gene (red) inserted. Desired gene then inserted into Ti (tumor-inducing) plasmid naturally found in A.
tumefaciens. Plant cell inoculated with A. tumefaciens containing engineered Ti plasmid + the desired DNA
transfers desired DNA + t-DNA into plant chromosomes. Plantlets with desired trait then regenerated.
Harvesting Tobacco Biomass for
Pharmaceutical Production
New Ways to Protect Drought-Stricken Plants
Anne Simon Moffat. Science 296:1226-1229, May 17 2002.
With drought an ever-present threat, researchers are identifying genes that can help plants
tolerate arid conditions in hopes of using them to produce hardier crops.
Tomato plants carrying a foreign gene that
protects their cells from salt-induced
dehydration thrive in a 200-mM salt solution,
whereas unaltered plants wither.
CREDITS: E. BLUMWALD/UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
Fields of ... brown. Improving the drought
tolerance of corn could make dried-out
crops like this one a thing of the past.
CREDIT: RICHARD HAMILTON SMITH/CORBISS
Studies have shown that ethanol:
Reduces tailpipe carbon monoxide emissions by as much as 30%
Reduces exhaust VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions by 12%
Reduces toxic emissions by 30%
Reduces particulate matter (PM) emissions by more than 25% (Particulate matter has been found to penetrate deeply
into human lungs.)
Corn can be genetically engineered to improve the efficiency
of ethanol production.
Soybean
Engineering
h
CO2
[oil]
CH3(CH2)nCOOR
N2
H2O
Soybeans are being genetically engineered for many new uses
Development of Crop Plants - History
• Domestication of crops
• We have been modifying our crops
for 10,000 years through Selection.
• All crops we grow today have
undergone extensive genetic change
from their wild ancestors.
• Crops, strains and genes have moved
around the globe.
Domestication of
Corn creating a
New species in the
Process – Zea mays
Teosinte
Hybrids
Modern Corn
Improving Our Crop Plants
• Developing Modern
Varieties of Crops
– Hybridization
• Crosses with Wild Relatives
• Hybrids
– Mutation
• Irradiation
• Chemicals
– Cell Culture
• Embryo Rescue
• Somaclonal variation
Chihuahuas and Great Danes…
Products of Modern Breeding
Both bred from
wolves…
Modern Genetic Improvement
Inserting one or few genes to achieve
desired traits.
GE Crops
–
–
–
–
Relatively Specific
Changes are Subtle
Allows Flexibility
Expeditious
Concerns
Like all new technologies there are concerns with the commercial application of
biotechnology. These concerns can be divided into three areas [although in
many cases the concern crosses more than one area]:
•Social and Economic Considerations
•Ethical Concerns
•Environmental Impact
Also since biotechnology impacts our food supply a fourth concern has been
voiced
•Food Safety
Extensive studies indicate that biotech-derived foods are as safe or safer than
conventional foods. Also although regulatory oversight is evolving, it is more
extensive for biotech foods than any others.
In balance biotech crops are considered to be beneficial to the environment. Their
compatibility with sustainable practices is being researched.
Social and Economic Considerations
Among the major social and economic concerns that have been raised are:
Is biotechnology scale-neutral or does it mainly benefit the larger and wealthier farmers?
Can it provide a market advantage for large multinational corporations?
Do just a few corporations control much of the intellectual property associated with agricultural
biotechnology?
Might biotechnology increase farmer’s reliance on seed companies and cause them to be less likely to
use seeds of varieties or cultivars they have traditionally used?
Can it exacerbate over-production making farming even less profitable than it already is?
Is it a “tool of capitalism”?
Ethical Concerns
In many ways the social and economic concerns are also ethical considerations. Also in
some ways adoption of biotechnology represents a break from tradition.
Some of the major ethical concerns that have been voiced are:
Should we mess with Mother Nature?
Are genetically engineered plants and animals “natural”?
Should anyone be allowed to own or patent a living organism [or does this actually occur]?
Plant Incorporated Pesticides (PIP’s)
Scientists in industry and academia have been developing corn and
soybean lines that produce their own natural insecticides to resist
insect losses. Since 1996, six types of Bt corn have been
commercialized to protect against attack by European and
southwestern corn borer. Other types of Bt corn are being
evaluated that prevent losses to corn rootworm, black cutworm,
and fall armyworm.
Ric Bessin
Issue: Impact on non-target organisms
There has been much media attention given to the potential impact of GM crops on non- target organisms. An ideal pest
control tactic would be one that controls the pest, but does not harm other non-target organisms in any way. Non-target
organisms include all organisms except for the pest to be controlled. Examples of non-target organisms would be mammals,
fish, birds, reptiles and other insects.
Examples of non-target insects to be protected include lady beetles, lacewings, and other insect predators,
honey bees and other insect pollinators, and butterflies and other aesthetically pleasing insects.
Media attention has focused on Bt-corn and the impact that it may have on monarch butterflies. At one time, some
believed that Bt plants would be the idea control of some crops pests, because only the pests that fed on the plant
would ingest the toxin and the toxin is only toxic to some plant feeding insects. However, some Bt-corn plants have
relative high levels of the Bt protein in their pollen, and pollen released from these plants may fall on other plants
and be eaten by other insects that are not pests. In the case of the monarch caterpillars, pollen from the Bt corn
drifts onto milkweed plants which are common in and near corn fields. As the monarch feeds on the milkweed
leaves, it ingests the Bt pollen and some caterpillars were shown to be killed in lab studies. Six field studies
published in PNAS in the fall of 2001 showed there was little risk to monarch larvae from the two most commonly
grown types of Bt corn because the pollen isn't toxic in the concentrations that monarch larvae would encounter in
the fields. Studies by UK entomologist Ken Yeargan and undergrad Chanda Bartholomew indicates that in
Kentucky monarch larvae feeding rarely coincides with corn pollen shed so Bt corn is of little consequence to this
butterfly in KY. Research by UK Plant Pathologist, Paul Vincelli, and others indicate that Bt corn can reduce fungal
toxins that can cause disease in horses and livestock and cancer in humans.
Lady Beetle
Lacewing
Effects on non-target organisms is and will continue to be an important issue. New GM crops will need to be
evaluated for their potential effects on non targets. However, a double standard has arisen for regulating non target
effects, one for insecticides and the other for GM crops. Many of the insecticides used today are considered broad
spectrum- meaning they kill a wide range of insects including beneficial ones. Many are classified as Restricted Use
Pesticides due to their toxicity to fish, birds, or other wildlife. Relative to most insecticides on the market, Bt-crops
are more selective and potentially less damaging to non-target organisms.
Monarch
Issue: GM Crops Compliment Biological Control
One group of non-target organisms that need to be encouraged is the natural enemies
of our crop pests. Natural enemies are composed of a wide array of parasitic and
predatory insects and other arthropods. Control of crop pests by natural enemies is
referred to as biological control. Plant pesticides produced by genetically modified
crops are more selective than pesticide sprays, thus not harming natural pest
predators. In this way, genetically modified crops that produce their own plant
pesticides are more compatible with biological control.
Ric Bessin
Bt crops -- EPA Assessments
"Bt Biopesticides Registration Action Document," the EPA's
review contains 283 pages and can be viewed in its entirety at:
www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap.
“the Bt protein (those allowed for food uses) behaves as would
be expected of a dietary protein, is not structurally related to
any known food allergen or protein toxin, and does not display
any oral toxicity when administered at high doses."
"(Data) provide a weight of evidence assessment indicating no
unreasonable adverse effects of Bt Cry proteins expressed in plants
to non-target wildlife or beneficial invertebrates,whether they are
earthworms, springtails, parasites, predators, pollinators or soil
microbial and invertebrate flora."
“...widespread cultivation of Bt crops may have
huge benefits for monarch butterfly survival."
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