In
This Issue:
IFPRI
ANALYZES ECONOMIC IMPACT OF AGRI-BIOTECH
Growing transgenic cotton is likely to result in reduced
pesticide use and is predicted to be profitable in most
US states in the Cotton Belt. This was
forwarded by a study on the payoffs to agricultural biotechnology by researchers
at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
A team led by Michele Marra collected and characterized available economic
evidence to determine if any general implications can be drawn from studies
on economic impacts of transgenic crops. Other implications drawn from their
analysis are:
- Bt
corn will provide a small but significant yield increase in most
years across the U.S. Corn Belt, and will be substantial in some
places.
- Although
there is some evidence of a small yield loss in the Roundup Ready
soybean varieties, in most years and locations, savings in pesticide
costs and, possibly, tillage costs will more than offset the lost
revenue from the yield discrepancy.
The authors
caution however that there is not yet enough evidence to generalize
even these few conclusions to other countries. More farm- level studies
in more years and across more locations are required before any additional
implications can be drawn.
For more information on the paper, visit http://www.ifri.cgiar.org/divs/eptd/eptdp87.htm
IPR IS
NOT A CONSTRAINT TO SCIENCE
"As things stand now, intellectual property does not appear to be the binding
constraint on Southern science. Lack of experience and expertise in accessing,
using, and regulating modern biotechnologies are the real problems". This is
according to a discussion paper entitled "Accessing Other People's Technology:
Do Non-Profit Agencies Need It? How to Obtain It?" by the International Food
Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) authored by Carol Nottenburg, Philip Pardey
and Brian Wright. The article put special emphasis on agricultural biotechnology
and discussed policies of IPR protection, research exemptions, and the way non-profit
institutes fit in and are at odds with these policies and exemptions.
Intellectual property rights (IPR) were primarily the concern of inventors,
authors, artists and firms that deal in their output. Lately, public and private
non-profit institutions around the world have become active on the intellectual
property scene. For non-profit institutions to get a return on their investments,
they have to sell rights to their technologies to commercial entities or they
may choose to out-license the technology. As an example, the Association of
University Technology Managers, representing 300 universities, research institutes
and teaching hospitals from the US and Canada, reported over 18,600 licenses
active as of 1999 with an income of $862 million. The authors report that for
all the benefits that non-profit institutions receive from IPR, they are "neglecting
internal monitoring and compliance with respect to other people's technologies".
It was reported that there are various options for gaining access to IPRs.
The authors say that the more important ones from the perspective of non-profit
agencies are cross licensing, research-only licensing, market segmentation,
mergers or joint ventures, cost-free licensing of technologies, direct programmatic
support from the private sector, patent pooling, clearinghouse mechanisms,
alliance with independent developers of research tools, and sharing of technology.
Nottenburg is the director of intellectual property at the Center for the Application
of Molecular Biology to International Agriculture in Australia, Pardey is a
Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI, and Wright is a Professor in the Department
of Agriculture and Resource Economics at the University of California. The
paper can be downloaded at http://www.ifpri.cgiar.org
GM
CORN HELPS KEEP DRINKING WATER CLEAN
A study predicts that herbicide-tolerant GM corn, and probably other transgenic
crops with the similar trait, lessens the pesticide load on watersheds. The
study "Predicted impact of transgenic, herbicide-tolerant corn on drinking
water quality in vulnerable watersheds of the mid-western USA" was led by R.
Don Wauchope. It was published in Pest Management Science, volume 58, issue
2.
The study used computer-modeling to generate distributions of estimated reservoir
exposure for seven chemical application scenarios in three selected vulnerable
watersheds in corn-growing geographical areas in mid-western USA. The herbicides
selected for the study were alachlor, atrazine, glufosinate, and glyphosate
with Liberty Link corn and Roundup Ready corn as the corn systems. The simulations
generated concentrations for each day in the 36-year simulation period.
Conventional crops need herbicides to be applied before and after planting
while the herbicide-tolerant GM crops allows farmers to apply pesticides only
after planting. According to the simulations, this characteristic would dramatically
reduce herbicide concentrations in vulnerable watersheds thus reducing risks
to human populations through drinking water. The authors expect that similar
effects would happen in other crop-varieties that are associated with reduction
in use of pesticides.
The entire study is also available online at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/
cgi-bin/issuetoc?ID=88512316 while a related paper can be found at http://www.isb.vt.edu/
news/2002/jul0204.
GM FLOWER "POWER"
Researchers at Cornell University have identified a gene that restores pollen
production to sterile plants. The fertility restorer gene, found in certain
petunia varieties, somehow "prevents an abnormal gene in the cell's mitochondria
from disrupting pollen production" said Maureen Hanson, the research leader
and professor at the Department of Plant Biology in Cornell.
The gene's identification will help plant breeders transfer the gene more quickly
to other breeding lines. Plants that are known to have similar naturally occurring
restorer genes are rice, oilseed rape, cauliflower and sunflower.
However, Hanson cautions that "we still don't understand the molecular mechanism
of action of the petunia restorer gene and how it turns off expression of the
mitochondrial gene. And we also need to find out why a form of the gene present
in nonrestoring lines does not allow normal pollen development in the presence
of the male-sterility cytoplasm. For more details, go to http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/July02/Restorer_gene.hrs.html.
Another research on flowers may not solve world hunger but may still contribute
to peace and goodwill. Scientists are studying on how to use genetic engineering
to make roses more fragrant. Through the centuries flowers have been bred for
color, size and shelf life without any attention to scent, said Natalia Dudareva
of Purdue University, Indiana, one of the few scientists working on floral
scent.
Dr. David Weiss, a plant biologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is
the head of the Petals Genomics project. The project, which aims to identify
fragrance related genes of roses, has already found at least 15 candidate fragrance
genes. (via http://www.agbioworld.org)
BT
PROTEIN UNDETECTABLE IN CORN ETHANOL
What happens to the protein in Bt-modified corn when processed into ethanol?
Bruce S. Dien and his team at the US Agricultural Research Service National
Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois, found out
that Bt protein in GM corn was not detectable after fermentation.
The team monitored the Bt protein during all stages of ethanol production.
They designed small-scale experiments with wet and dry-milled Bt corn hybrids.
During dry milling, they discovered that the use of heat to liquefy corn meal
quickly destroyed the protein, and there was no detectable trace of it in either
the mash or resulting ethanol.
In wet milled corn, they detected Bt in whole kernels, gluten, germ oil and
fiber at concentrations of 170 to 453 parts per billion. Again, no trace of
the protein was found in the starch or steep liquor fraction.
Ethanol
yields from Bt corn were also comparable to that of non-Bt hybrids.
This is good news as ethanol production is being touted as a cleaner-burning
alternative to petroleum fuels.
For more information, visit http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jul02/track0702.htm
RESEARCH
AND POLICY ON BIOTECHNOLOGY AND GLOBALIZATION
The Center for International Development, Harvard University is implementing
a Biotechnology and Globalization subprogram to undertake research, promote
policy consultations and disseminate information on the implications of biotechnology
for development. It also contributes to training in science and technology
policy analysis.
The Biotechnology and Globalization project covers ten projects: (1) globalization
of research and development; (2) science and the precautionary principle; (3)
biotechnology in developing countries; (4) public attitudes toward biotechnology;
(5) intellectual property rights; (6) biodiversity and traditional knowledge;
(7) ethical considerations; (8) institutional innovation; (9) genetic divide;
and (10) aquaculture.
It is being mplemented with financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation,
the Center for International Development at Harvard University and the Belfer
Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, Kennedy
School of Government, and Harvard University.
Visit http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidtech/ for
more information.
INTERESTING
E-MATERIALS AVAILABLE
- The
Biosafety Information Network and Advisory Service (BINAS) of the
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has
released a new version of the Decision Support System for Safety
Assessment of Genetically Modified Crop Plants or DTREE. See http://binas.unido.org/dtree or
contact webmaster@binas.unido.org for
further information.
- The
Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology of the International
Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications has two
new Pocket K (Knowledge) series, one on Bt technology and the other
on labeling genetically modified foods. These are handy easy to
read primers available in html or PDF file at this website: http://www.isaaa.org/kc.
Available also on this site are two new K (Knowledge) Sheets on
genetically modified crops' ability to reduce pesticide use; and
plant biotech: current and potential impact in improving pest management.
- The
European Commission has a fact sheet on GMO regulations. It answers
questions concerning the current EU-legislation on GMOs, e.g. risk
assessment procedure, procedure for approval and GM food marketing
rules. It discusses the new legislative proposals for GMO, i.e.
labeling, traceability, and thresholds. The annexes give overviews
about e.g. approved GMO products and GMO products under pending
approval in the European Union. The full text is available
as English, German and French PDF-file at http://www.bio-scope.org/
- Bio-Scope
has come out with a list of feeding studies with varieties already
in the market. These studies provide insights on the safety and
proof of nutritional equivalence between transgenic and the parental
conventional variety. The studies are arranged according to commodity,
i.e. insect resistant corn, and the type of animal on which the
feeding study was conducted on. Visit this site for a listing of
studies: http://www.bio-scope.org/disp_doc.cfm?id=9D55187F
AB5D4C778195128CB93EE863
ANNOUNCEMENT:
24TH INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH CONFERENCE
The 24th International Rice Research Conference will to be held in Beijing,
China on September 16-19, 2002. This is one of the main features of the inaugural
International Rice Congress, organized by the International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI), the Chinese State Development and Planning Commission, the Chinese
Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and
co-sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization. See http://www.irri.org/irc2002/
IRRC2002/IRRCIndex2.htm or contact c.salonga@cgiar.org for
further information.
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