In
This Issue:
WSSD
PLAN OF IMPLEMENTATION AVAILABLE
One of the key documents produced from the recently concluded World Summit
on Sustainable Development (WSSD) is already available. The advanced, unedited
text of the WSSD Plan of Implementation was posted last September 4, 2002.
The Plan strongly reaffirms commitment to the Rio principles, the full implementation
of Agenda 21 and the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21.
It also signifies commitment to undertake concrete actions and measures at
all levels. Efforts will also be made to promote the integration of the three
components of sustainable development - economic development, social development,
and environment protection.
It was also recognized that the implementation of the outcomes of the Summit
should benefit and involve all sectors. Good governance, nationally and internationally,
was stated as essential for sustainable development. At the domestic level,
the basis for sustainable development are sound environmental, social, and
economic policies, democratic institutions responsive to the needs of the people,
the rule of law, anti-corruption measures, gender equality, and an enabling
environment for investment.
The Plan has sections on poverty eradication, changing unsustainable patterns
of consumption and production, protecting and managing the natural resource
base of economic and social development, sustainable development in a globalizing
world, health and sustainable development, sustainable development of small
island developing States, sustainable development for Africa, other regional
initiatives, means of implementation, and institutional framework for sustainable
development.
The text may be downloaded at http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/documents/
summit_docs/plan_final1009.doc
PLANT
SCIENCE INDUSTRY CAN CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
"Our industry is determined to help advance sustainable development through the
use and development of products" said Syngenta's Chairman of the Board of Directors,
Heinz Imhof during a speech at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
He started by acknowledging that UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, identified
agriculture as one of the key target areas where concrete results must be obtained.
Chairman Imhof's speech was composed of five messages which are as follows:
The development of sustainable agricultural systems is fundamental to world
food security and poverty alleviation. There is a need to double food supply
to meet the needs of an increasing population, longer life expectancy and higher
Gross Domestic Product per capita. The needs of over 1.1 billion people living
in poverty also have to be addressed.
To promote sustainable agriculture and development, the plant science industry
will contribute significantly. Imhof said that the plant science industry's
products will continue to support farmers in the key areas of yield protection,
crop enhancement and quality improvement. Products will also need less water,
tolerate saline land and contain additional nutrients.
Product stewardship, through responsible and sustainable use of products, is
another key component for progress. An example is the commitment to work on
the safety evaluation of genetically enhanced crops.
The fourth message is that knowledge and technology transfer using public-private
partnerships can make a real difference in the promotion of sustainable agriculture.
He said that farmers are able to improve their productivity and incomes by
themselves in a sustainable manner if they have access to products, information
and technology.
Lastly, stakeholder dialogue based on open and transparent risk/benefit analysis
is essential for success. This dialogue must be based on facts and science.
Syngenta is a world leading agribusiness company. Chairman Imhof's speech at
the WSSD can be downloaded at http://www.syngenta.com/en/media/article.asp?article_id=238
DRAFT
CODE OF CONDUCT ON BIOTECHNOLOGY
A preliminary draft of an ""International Code of Conduct on Biotechnology
as it Affects the Conservation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources" is
available at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
Surveys were conducted among FAO Members and a wide range of relevant stakeholders
throughout the world.
Most members who supported the work considered FAO and its Commission on Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture to be an appropriate forum. A number of
them pointed to the complementarity between genetic resources for food and
agriculture and biotechnologies. There was broad support that the main objective
of the Code should remain as "to maximize the positive effects of biotechnologies
and minimize undesired effects and possible risks".
It was generally emphasized that the Code should be in harmony with relevant
international agreements such as the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol and the International
Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Most respondents
felt that the Code could provide a framework for promoting appropriate biotechnologies,
capacity-building, and international cooperation for the management of biotechnologies
for genetic resources for food and agriculture. It was also stated that the
recent developments in gene technologies would need a fresh approach in developing
the Code.
The Draft Code of Conduct is available at ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/cgrfa9/r9w18e.pdf
IMPACT
OF HERBICIDE TOLERANT SOYBEANS
A study was conducted by the George Morris Center to determine the impact of
Glyphosate Tolerant (GT) soybeans in Ontario. The impacts were classified as
agronomic, economic and environmental.
Farmers using GT technology had made, on the average, 1.7 fewer passes over
their fields for herbicide application. Further, they used less of the implements
usually associated with soil erosion. Producers who use GT were also leaving
more residue on the ground which is beneficial to the environment.
In terms of profitability, data from the study can not give an overall indication
on the effect of GT partially because the respondents did not know their costs
or do not keep records in a way that would allow them to answer the necessary
questions. However, producers perceived that GT technology saves labor and
fuel and lowers herbicide costs.
In terms of environmental impact, Ontario producers were split on whether GT
technology has positive or negative impact on biodiversity.
The George Morris Centre is a Canada-wide, not-for-profit organization. As
an independent think-tank, the Centre provides industry decision makers with
critical information and analysis on issues affecting the Canadian agri-food
sector. The study can be downloaded at http://www.georgemorris.org/
CBIFINALReport0702CCB.pdf
STRATEGY
FOR MAINTAINING GENE BANKS
One of the ways of making genetic materials available is through gene banks
such as what the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR) maintains. The organization has 11 genebanks which conserve over 660,000
plant or seed samples. CGIAR is an association of public and private members
supporting a system of 16 Future Harvest Centers that work in more than 100
countries to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve
human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. The plant or seed
samples in the CGIAR genebanks are crops grown mainly by poor people or staple
food crops grown throughout the world.
A serious concern in this endeavor is the mismatch between the long-term needs
of maintaining the genebanks and the availability of funds only at an annual
basis. It is estimated that the annual cost of conserving and distributing
the genetic material presently in the CGIAR genebanks is US$ 5.7 million per
year. The funding needs for these core genebank services could be met by setting
aside a fund of US$ 149 million invested at a real interest rate of 4% per
annum. However, these estimates are sensitive to a number of factors including
crop composition and size of holdings, the number of samples distributed annually
to the genebanks, the technology of germplasm storage, the rate of interest
used to calculate the present value of distant future costs and various conservation
protocols.
The report is available at the website of IFPRI, one of the CGIAR research
centers, at http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/cp/sgrpfh.htm
NIGERIA
BUDGETS US$19.4 M YEARLY FOR BIOTECH
The Federal Government of Nigeria will spend N2.5 billion (around $19.4 million)
a year for three years on biotechnology, through its National Biotechnology
Development Agency (NABDA).
President Olusegun Obasanjo said "I am convinced that the only reliable way
forward for rapid biotechnological development in the country is a close and
sustained government/ researchers/ industry collaboration." Obasanjo called
on the science community for a "a well thought out and focused agenda that
would meet the country's needs for biotech goods and services within the next
10 years".
He stressed that the vision and intention of setting up NABDA was that "Nigeria
should, as a matter of priority initiate appropriate steps to explore the use
of biotechnology for the benefit of Nigerians and thus ensure that Nigeria
becomes one of the international leaders in biotechnology."
Nigeria's biotechnology development program objectives include:
* ensuring self reliance in the development and production of biotechnology-derived
products and services critical to national economy;
* ensuring access to and benefit from safe, ethical, and profitable uses of
biotechnology-based products and services;
* ensuring that biotechnology is profitably applied to government's stewardship
such as assurance of high quality health services, food security, environmental
protection, and safety; and
* ensuring sustenance in the development and application of acceptable
and profitable technologies through strategic investments in biotech R&D
to support/enhance innovation and accelerate economic development.
BYRNE
: BIOTECH OFFERS HUGE POSSIBILITIES FOR SAFE FOOD
David Byrne, European Union Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection,
said that biotechnology had the potential to offer huge possibilities for future
innovation in terms of cheaper, safer and more cost-effective production, and
hinted strongly that the moratorium on genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
must end.
"The proposals presented by the Commission for traceability and labeling of GM-food
and GM-feed provide a sound and balanced platform on which to build," he said
at the Informal Agriculture Council in Nyborg. "It is important that innovation
in the biotech field is not impeded by emotional reactions and apprehension
based on inadequate or biased information. There can however, be no question
of compromising public health or the environment", noted Byrne.
However, Byrne went on to warn that there was no point talking about innovation
in the abstract if progress was not made on starting new GMO authorizations
and ending the so-called moratorium.
He told the gathering of EU farm ministers that it was time for the EU to give
people the choice whether they wanted to consume GM food or not - implying
an end to the current moratorium.
This would end an effective ban on growing GM crops. He noted that a law laying
down tougher criteria than in the past to allow farmers to grow GM crops was
due to come into force in mid-October, which is seen by some as setting the
scene for ending the ban. "We cannot continue forever with this moratorium.
It must end at some stage," Byrne said.
GENE
TARGETING IN RICE
Researchers have found a rapid way of finding the function of specific genes
in rice, one of the world's most vital staples. Previously, assigning function
to rice genes was a hit and miss affair because researchers could only create
mutants by randomly targeting genes through chemical treatment or the use of
highly mobile pieces of DNA called transposons.
In a paper in the October issue of Nature Biotechnology, Japanese researchers
have developed a method for targeting genes specifically that works efficiently
in rice.
To demonstrate their approach, Shigeru Iida and colleagues at the National
Institute for Basic Biology in Japan decided to target the native rice waxy
gene, which encodes an enzyme that influences the quality and quantity of rice
grains. Knowing that DNA sequences with the same sequence tend to recombine
within the genome, the Japanese team set out to determine whether introduction
of an artificial DNA molecule with the same sequence as the Waxy gene could
disrupt its structure. Hence, producing visible effects on the targeted plants,
allowing the investigators to infer gene function.
Before they could do this, however, they had to make the recombination process
much more efficient in rice. This was accomplished by making the DNA introduction
method more efficient and refining the ways of selecting plants containing
successfully targeted Waxy genes. Around 1 in 100 plants contained a disrupted
Waxy gene, which is an unprecedented efficiency for gene targeting in higher
plants. Because the selection approach is independent of the nature of the
gene, the strategy could be more widely applied to other genes and has the
potential to be used in many other crops.
More details are available in the paper "Efficient recombination in rice" by
Rie Terada, Hiroko Urawa, Yoshishige Inagaki , Kazuo Tsugane, and Shigeru Iida.
Email Shigeru Iida, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki 444-8585,
Japan at shigiida@nibb.ac.jp for additional
information.
FIRST
IRRI-PHILRICE FIELD EVALUATION OF GM RICE
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Bulletin reports that transgenic
rice variety IR72 with the Xa21 gene (TT103) has shown good agronomic performance
in Muņoz, Philippines. These materials were examined last week at Muņoz by
IRRI-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) experts and members of the
Institute Biosafety Committee (IBC). The material was developed previously
at IRRI and has shown excellent protection against available races of bacterial
blight in Asia under screenhouse conditions at IRRI (1998-99).
It took several years to transfer this material for open-field evaluation,
which has been coordinated by Dr.Rhodora Aldemita at PhilRice. The transgenic
rice was developed under supervision of Dr. Swapan Datta. Currently, several
elite indica lines including materials for hybrid rice are being developed
with Xa21 and Bt genes for bacterial blight and stem borer resistance. Following
IBC and the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines guidelines and
cooperation, IRRI-PhilRice will continue such field testing with other materials
in the future.
For more information, email Dr. Swapan Datta at s.datta@cgiar.org
LEGAL
ASPECTS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY TACKLED AT BIOLAW 2002
Scientists and lawyers exchanged knowledge and opinions on the legal implications
of biotechnology in a conference held in Bangkok, Thailand last 3-5 September.
In tandem with the rapid development of biotechnology, legal implications are
getting increasingly complicated. However, scientists and lawyers seem to exist
in separate environments. Thus, Biolaw 2002 was principally organized to promote
understanding of the legal aspects of biotechnology applications and "bridge
the gap between the two separate worlds - the world of scientists and the world
of lawyers", according to Dr. Morakot Tanticharoen, Director General of the
National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Thailand.
Topics discussed in the conference include: ethical, legal, and social implications
(ELSI) of medical, food, and crop biotechnology; public and private sector
partnerships; intellectual property protection of modern biotechnology; and
biodiversity and biotechnology.
Biolaw 2002 was organized by Dr. Tanit Changthavorn of the Department of Business
Development and Biolaw, National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology,
in coordination with the Southeast Asia Network on IP/TT Management. ISAAA
co-sponsored this activity.
For further information on the highlights of the conference, please contact
Dr. Changthavorn at business@biotec.or.th
For more information, email Dr. Swapan Datta at s.data@cgiar.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEW K SHEET
A new
K Sheet, "Emerging Technologies Critically needed in Africa" is available.
It is a summary of the report from the United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa, which was released during the World Summit. It is available
at http://www.isaaa.org/kc/Services.htm.
VIRTUAL
EXHIBIT OF BANANA PROJECT
The Kenya
TC Banana Project of ISAAA is on the virtual exhibit. The project
entitled "Biotechnology to Benefit Small-Scale Banana Producers in
Kenya" was developed in response to the rapid decline in banana production
in Kenya over the last 20 years. This decline was due to infestation
of the nation's banana orchards with pests and diseases, together
with widespread soil degradation. View it at http://www.virtualexhibit.net/new/globalShowcaseTemplate.php?project_id=295®ion
_id=4&industry_id=3
INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGY IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
CropLife
Asia, in association with the International Service for the Acquisition
of Agri-biotech Applications, and International Rice Research Institute,
among others, is jointly sponsoring an international conference "More
People, Less Land: Technology's Role in Sustainable Agriculture in
Asia" on November 5-6, 2002 in Bangkok, Thailand.
This conference will present solid, science-based information that emphasizes
the role that technologies can play in sustainable agricultural development.
Myths and fallacies will be addressed, and the effects on real people will
be highlighted.
More details on the conference are available at http://www.croplifeasia.org.
download registration form from http://www.croplifeasia.org/temp/mpll_rego_back.pdf
INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON S&T ETHICS
An international
conference on Ethics of Science and Technology will be held from
October 19-21, 2002 at Alexandria, Egypt. The four themes are: (i)
Bioethics, human health and reproduction; (ii) Food, Agriculture,
and GMOs; (iii) Energy and Climate; and (iv) Informatics, Communications
and the Internet. For more information, go to http://www.bibalex.org/MainFrames.asp?LangID=1&Facility
ID=249&Type=5
RICE GENE MACHINE
WORKSHOP
An international
workshop entitled "Towards Building a Rice Gene Machine" will be
held at the Optus Lecture Theatre, Discovery, CSIRO Black Mountain,
Corner of Clunies Ross St and Barry Dr, Canberra, Australia on 11-12
November 2002. CSIRO Plant Industry is organizing this workshop with
partial funding from the Australian Government Department of Education,
Science and Training's Frontiers of S&T Missions and Workshops
component of the Innovation Access Program, administered by the Australian
Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. Rural Industries
and Research Development Corporation (RIRDC), the NSW Agricultural
Genomics Centre, CRC for Sustainable Rice Production and Embassy
of France are also financially supporting this event. Several other
embassies and agencies are also expected to contribute. For more
information, visit the workshop website at http://www.pi.csiro.au/grgm02/home.htm. |
