In This
Issue:
AUSTRALIA’S
STRATEGY FOR BIOTECH
Australia’s
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has come up with
its Biotechnology Strategy for Agriculture, Food and Fiber which
identifies the need to “capture biotechnology benefits for
the Australian community that are consistent with safeguarding
human health and ensuring environmental protection.”
As part
of the evaluation of the National Biotechnology Strategy, the Department
consulted key stakeholders on the sections of the National Biotechnology
Strategy. The present document addresses comments made by
stakeholders through the formal consultation process.
The
Strategy adopts a through chain approach to the development and
adoption of biotechnology in the agriculture, food and fiber sectors.
It has six themes with associated objectives and actions. These
are:
- Theme
1 provides a framework for developing new agriculture, food and
fiber industries and recognizes that many areas of biotechnology
are potentially highly relevant and foregoing these developments
could cost Australian agriculture dearly.
- Theme
2 addresses the need for communication with rural and regional
Australia to facilitate their decision-making about these new
technologies.
- Themes
3 and 4 recognize the importance of regulation to ensure the
safety of new applications of biotechnology in the agriculture,
food and fiber sectors.
- Theme
5 acknowledges that community and industry acceptance of future
commercial applications of agricultural biotechnology is likely
to hinge on the outcomes of current debates about GM crops. It
details actions to assist in the resolution of existing uncertainty
that may hinder future development of agriculture, food and fiber
biotechnology.
- Theme
6 discusses the Department’s ongoing role with other agencies
to facilitate market access for both existing producers of non-biotechnology
products and producers of biotechnology products.
The
full document is available online at http://www.affa.gov.au/content/output.cfm?ObjectID=1B451B2C-1C13-44B8-A66074631F385EB2
EC TURNS
DOWN REQUEST FOR WTO PANEL ON GMOS
The
European Union has turned down the idea of a World Trade Organization
(WTO) panel on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) being requested
by the United States. EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said that “We
regret this move to an unnecessary litigation. The EU's regulatory
system for GMOs is clear, transparent, reasonable and non-discriminatory.
We are confident that the WTO will confirm that the EU fully respects
its obligations."
Earlier,
the US requested for the dispute panel as a challenge to the EU’s
five-year moratorium on approving agricultural biotechnology products.
Canada and Argentina have also joined the US in requesting the
dispute panel.
EU Commissioner
for the Environment Margot Wallström explained that “it
is not our intention to create trade barriers. But my concern is
that this request will muddy the waters of the debate in Europe.
We have to create confidence among citizens for GMOs and allow
them to choose - and this is what our new legislative framework
is designed to do. The EU stance on GMOs is in line with WTO rules."
More
information on the EU stance at http://www.europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action
.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/1165|0|RAPID&lg=EN. Additional details
on the US request is available at
http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2003/08/ustr03-54.htm
AUSTRALIAN FARMERS:
PRAGMATIC TOWARDS GM CROPS
According
to the results of a recent survey in Australia on the attitudes
of farmers toward genetically modified (GM) crops, survey results
show that 57% of the farmers would welcome the idea of growing
GM crops if problems such as: crop performance not being proven,
market access limitations, and consumer concerns, were addressed.
The
survey also revealed that farmers needed more access to information
that would show them both the benefits and risks associated with
gene technology.
Further,
21% of the Australian farmers were either growing GM crops or were
thinking of growing them, not so much as to increase profits, but
more of the expected benefits like increased yield (64%), and reduced
chemical use (63%). A considerable number, 60%, also cited increased
effectiveness of weed and insect control as one of the potential
benefits.
Lastly,
half of the farmers surveyed supported the growing of GM crops
with regulatory approval, and 62% supported field trials of GM
crop varieties.
The survey was conducted by the Market Attitude Research Services last May
to June, 2003. It involved a telephone survey with 500 crop (cereal, legume,
feed, oilseed, vegetable, and fruit) growers from all states and territories
in Australia.
The
results of the survey can be accessed at http://www.biotechnology.gov.au/content/controlfiles/display
_details.cfm?objectid=336AC4A5-2ECA-4AFC-97C203F191645E16.
PEW INITIATIVE
SUMMARIZES ISSUES ABOUT GENE FLOW
A new
brief entitled “Have Transgenes, Will Travel: Issues Raised
by Gene Flow from Genetically Engineered Crops” from the
Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology was recently released.
The brief summarizes expert opinions on the economic and ecological
consequences if novel traits from transgenic crops spread to other
crops and ecosystems via pollen or seed.
The
author states that although gene flow and transfer is not a new
issue and not distinctly unique to genetically modified (GM) crops,
the possibility of the spread of its transgenic DNA to wild and
domesticated plant relatives should not be ignored.
Further,
the author explains that gene flow among transgenic plants is an
issue that raises new concerns for scientists and policy makers.
The brief contains articles and interviews with leading plant researchers,
and was developed to introduce non-scientists and the public to
the issue.
Some
of the highlights of the brief include the following concerns:
- A
primary ecological concern is that transgenic plants will breed
with wild relatives and confer a trait not otherwise found in
nature to the resulting plant, thereby altering the gene pool
for that crop and (potentially) threatening biodiversity.
- Economists
have pointed out that specialty markets (such as organic crops)
could be harmed economically if genetic material from transgenic
plants were to spread and mix with a crop intended to exclude
transgenic material.
- Despite
the theoretical concerns presented by gene flow, it is unclear
if the spread of DNA from transgenic crops is an ecological help
or a hindrance. Depending on the type of trait passed on, the
general fitness of a plant could increase or decrease as a result
of acquiring that trait.
- Concerns
about gene flow from transgenic plants could be addressed by
technologies currently under development that, if applied, could
render GM crops sterile and unable to breed.
The
new brief can be downloaded at http://pewagbiotech.org/resources/issuebriefs/geneflow.pdf.
TAIWAN’S
NEW FOOD LABELING LAW
The
Taiwanese government has made a mandatory requirement that all
nutritional claims must be accompanied by the proper nutritional
labeling in compliance with the restrictions made by the Department
of Health.
Food
labeling, medicine labeling and health food labeling are the three
areas governing Taiwan’s food labeling laws. Such laws require
that the nutritional information of food products be indicated
on the food packaging for the benefit of consumers.
However,
not all foods are required to indicate their nutritional content
on food labels this year. All dairy products and packaged beverages
are to be labeled, but cooking oil and frozen food are exempted
this year.
The
government is still exploring the possibility of applying nutritional
labeling rules to all packaged food. With regards to genetically
modified (GM) food, Taiwan is said to be less strict as compared
to other countries. There are plans, however, to systematize the
labeling of GM food products in three years time.
Read
the news article at http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/detail.asp?ID=40316&GRP=B.
POTENTIAL FOR
ASIAN BIOENTREPRENEURSHIP
Asia
is experiencing a surge of bioentrepreneurship mainly because of
regional political will and powerful global industry driver. Hence,
there has been a proliferation in the number of biotechnology start-ups
all over Asia. This is the view of C. Mark Tang of the US World
Technology Ventures, and colleagues in an article published in
Nature Biotechnology Bioentrepreneur.
In their
article entitled “Realizing Potential: the State of Asian
Bioentrepreneurship” the authors forward the following observations:
- Asian
governments are developing knowledge industries and are giving
numerous incentives and tax breaks. Infrastructures and clusters
are beginning to merge and biotechnology industry plans are underway.
- Global
opportunities and events are also contributing to Asian biotechnology.
A major driver is the technology of the “post-genomic era” where
new information available from genes provide an impetus for developing
new and improved methods in drug discovery.
- Asian
companies are beginning to investigate targets specific to Asian
populations and are exploring the region’s nature biodiversity.
The
authors identify possible pitfalls. These include a lack of scientists
and scientific business managers, as well as shortage of private
venture capital and skills to efficiently allocate early-stage
capital. However, short-term strategies include importing foreign
talent, or encouraging the return of citizens working overseas.
See
the full article in Nature Biotechnology Bioentrepreneur (Vol.
21, 2003). The magazine is also available online at http://www.nature.com/bioent.
GM PLANT VACCINE
FOR CERVICAL CANCER
Sophia
Biemelt of Germany’s Institut für Pflanzengenetik und
Kulturpflanzenforschung and colleagues have genetically engineered
plants to produce human papillomavirus (HPV) Type 16 virus-like
particles. This might lead to the development of plant vaccines
against cervical cancer which is linked to infection with HPV and
is the third most common cancer among women worldwide.
The
researchers worked with transgenic tobacco and potato plants carrying
the HPV type 16 major structural gene L1 under the control of the
cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. The transgenic plants were
able to express the HPV-16 L1 protein in a form appropriate for
immunization.
The
full article entitled “Production of Human Papillomavirus
type 16 Virus-Like Particles in Transgenic Plants” was published
in the Journal of Virology (Vol. 77, No. 17, September 2003 issue).
An abstract of the paper is available online at http://jvi.asm.org
ARS AND ISU
DEVELOP ‘HEALTHY CORN’
Researchers
from the US Department of Agriculture -Agricultural Research Service
(USDA-ARS), and the Iowa State University (ISU) have developed
new corn varieties that have potential consumer benefits.
Luis
Pons of ARS reports that the 14 new lines may enable corn-based
cooking oils and margarine to have lower cholesterol content. Some
of the corn lines yield oils with 60 to 70 percent oleic acid,
a compound that helps products stay fresh longer and is thought
to help lower blood cholesterol in people. Most commercially available
corn oils contain 20 to 30 percent oleic acid. High oleic acid
content may also lead margarine makers to skip hydrogenation, a
process that creates trans fatty acids, which are believed to raise
cholesterol.
Some
oils from the new corn lines have total saturated fatty acid compositions
as low as 6.5 percent, compared to the 13 percent found in corn
oils currently available. Meanwhile, the high protein and oil contents
of some of the new varieties may lead to cost-effective animal
feeds.
Read
more about this research in the August issue of Agricultural Research
magazine, available at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/aug03/corn0803.htm
GENE RESISTANT
TO WHEAT DISEASE
Researchers
from the Purdue University in the United States have discovered
a gene resistant to a wheat disease called “leaf blotch.” Purdue
University reports that scientists led by Stephen Goodwin used
bread wheat species to find the gene and the markers that indicate
the presence of the naturally occurring gene. The fungus causes
wheat crop damage worldwide with yield losses of 50 percent or
more in some places.
Goodwin
said that several of the previously found genes conferred resistance
on bread wheat plants for only a few years – up to about
15 years. Stb8, the gene they discovered, has genetic characteristics
that may allow it to be effective for a much longer period of time.
More
details on the research can be found at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html4ever/
030820.Goodwin.resist.html
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
DOCUMENT ON THE CARTAGENA PROTOCOL
ON BIOSAFETY
This document (http://www.isaaa.org/kc/Bin/Issues/Cartagena/index.htm)
contains background information, action required, frequently asked
questions about the Protocol (e.g. what institutional arrangements
does the Protocol require at the national level? What is the difference
between signing and ratifying the Protocol? What are the benefits
of becoming a Party to the Protocol?), and useful references and
links (e.g. a list of requirements that need to be fulfilled as
the date of entry comes into force and a checklist of obligations
found in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety).
ASIA-PACIFIC BIOTECH DIRECTORY 2003
The “Asia-Pacific
Biotech Directory 2003” was recently made available by the
World Scientific Publishing Company, Imperial College Press. This
directory features new information and a comprehensive listing
of top biotechnology organizations, research institutions, companies
and services in the Asia-Pacific region.
More
information about the directory can be found at http://www.wspc.com.sg/books/lifesci/5148.html. | 
