In
This Issue:
DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES BENEFIT MORE FROM GM CROPS
Current
existing genetically modified crops can have significant yield
effects that are most likely to occur in the developing world.
This is the conclusion of Matin Qaim and David Zilberman in an
article entitled "Yield Effects of Genetically Modified Crops
in Developing Countries," published in the February 7, 2003
issue of Science.
The
economists from the University of Bonn in Germany, and University
of California, respectively, argue that a major problem in developing
countries like India is due to pest-related yield losses as a result
of technical and economic constraints. An analysis of field trials
of Bt cotton in India revealed that average yields of Bt hybrids
exceeded those of non-Bt counterparts and popular checks by 80%
and 87%, respectively. The yield gains, according to the economists,
are largely due to the Bt gene itself. Bollworms, which are a major
pest of cotton, have a high destructive capacity that is not well
controlled in conventional cotton.
Bt hybrids
were sprayed against bollworms three times less often than were
non-Bt counterparts and popular checks. It was estimated that insecticide
usage was reduced by 70%, amounting to pesticide savings worth
about US$30 per hectare.
In addition,
Qaim and Zilberman noted that pest-resistant GM crops are easy
to manage at the farm level, and they could substantially reduce
current gaps between attainable and actual yields, especially in
smallholder farming systems. Comparing results with observations
made also in Indonesia and South Africa, they hypothesized that
on the basis of pest pressure and current crop protection, the
biggest yield gains are expected in South and Southeast Asia and
Sub-Saharan Africa.
The
paper concludes that while there are more applications for agricultural
biotechnology for developing countries beyond pest control, "GM
crops developed so far can already have important impacts." They
add that "although there is mounting evidence on the benefit
side, the technological potentials are not widely acknowledged.
Responsible risk management and balanced science communication
are prerequisites for overcoming acceptance problems and ensuring
sustainable use of GM crops."
The
full paper is available online at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/299/5608/900.pdf
NORTH-SOUTH PARTNERSHIP
NEEDED TO BUILD UP BIOTECH
"Governments
from the North and the South need to enter into genuine partnerships
to build up biotechnology capacity in the South and to tap the
potential benefits of this technology for the poor and hungry of
today and particularly tomorrow." This was one of the highlights
of the paper by Prof. Eric Tollens of the Department of Agricultural
and Environmental Economics at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in
Belgium.
Tollens
pointed out that the South lacks the capacity to develop their
own biotechnology applications, and to implement biosafety regulations
and testing. To achieve the goals of food security and poverty
alleviation (mostly in developing countries), collaboration and
support is needed from the North to build up a biotechnology capacity
in the South, which will include biosafety regulations and protocols.
However, different environmental concerns between rich and poor
countries can lead to different perspectives on the use of modern
biotechnology. Other highlights of the paper include:
- Another
green revolution is needed to elevate global food production.
This green revolution needs to be "doubly green," pertaining
to increases in yield, and the enhancement of the environment.
Biological technology (non-chemical) is also needed.
- The
next generation of transgenic crops should have definite consumer
advantages (e.g., better nutritional value).
- In
developing countries, there is so much emphasis and focus on
the risks and dangers of biotechnology that the potential of
the technology is lost. Low-income people and countries should
be empowered to make their own choices based on informed debate
and their own risk-benefit calculations.
- At
present, the use of biotechnology is acceptable only for the
development of vaccines, but not to genetically modify food for
consumption. It is time to trust science and technology based
on the science, and focus on the major issues.
For
more details, email Prof. Eric Tollens at eric.tollens@agr.kuleuven.ac.be
PHILIPPINES STARTS
'SUPER RICE' PROGRAM
The
Philippine's Department of Agriculture is set to implement its
Hybrid Rice Commercialization Program (HRCP), the flagship program
of President Gloria Arroyo's administration. Introduced as 'GMA
Super Rice' in honor of the President, yield projections of the
hybrid variety are expected to be up to 240 cavans of rice per
hectare. This is almost triple the present average yield of 85
cavans for every hectare.
The
program is expected to help make the country self-sufficient in
rice at the soonest possible time. The Department of Agriculture
and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice) recently
signed a joint venture agreement for the propagation of the hybrid
rice in an 8,000-hectare portion of the Iwahig Prison and Penal
Farm (IPPF) in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
PhilRice
has targeted the development of about 8,000 hectares for the production
of GMA super rice seed to be used in more than 300,000 hectares
of rice fields nationwide and to attain the government's goal of
self sufficiency in rice.
KOREANS DEVELOP MULTIPLE
STRESS-TOLERANT PLANT
Korean
researchers successfully developed transgenic plants with enhanced
tolerance to multiple environmental stresses. "This technology
can be applied to all plants at any time. It can also greatly contribute
to improving the self-sufficiency of Korea", states Prof.
Dae-Jin Yun of the Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Research
Center of Gyeongsang National University. The research team used
the genetic system of Arabidopsis thaliana to determine the physiological
role of nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) gene reactive oxygen
species (ROS)- mediated signaling in plants.
Prof
Dae-Jin Yun and colleagues investigated the influence of the expression
of the NDPK gene in formation of ROS in Arabidopsis thaliana by
over-expressing the NDPK gene. Over-expression of NDPK resulted
in tolerance to cold, salt and H202 stresses. Their results suggested
that NDPK plays a crucial role in the response to oxidative stress
and they found out that the same gene is involved in regulation
ROS regulation in plants. Generation of ROS in plants has been
implicated in abiotic and biotic stress responses, in which the
level of ROS is an important cellular regulator for stress response.
This
research was partially supported by grant from the Plant Diversity
Research Center of the 21st Century Frontier Research Program,
Ministry of Science and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry; Takara Biomedical Company, Korea and from the Biogreen
21 Program, Rural Development Administration, Korea.
The
full research article is in the Proceedings of National Academy
of Science, Volume 100, pages 358-363, 07 January 2003. It can
be downloaded at http://www.pnas.org/
cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.252641899
CHEN SAYS BIOTECH IMPORTANT IN CHINA
Zhangliang
Chen, The President of China Agricultural University and Vice President
of Beijing University, says agricultural biotechnology is an important
new tool for improving yield and quality. The need for more science,
especially biotechnology, to help feed the world's poor, was a
strong theme in a forum of developing world science leaders in
Christchurch, New Zealand. Some 1500 people attended the International
Congress of Plant Pathology where Chen was a speaker.
Chen
said China was feeding 22% of the world's population from 7% of
the available land. However, while the population in China will
not be stable until 2025, grain productivity had already stabilized
in 1998. Research has concentrated on disease and insect control
and licenses for six GM plant varieties were approved for commercialization
in 1997-98.
Although
there are more than 200 biotechnology laboratories in China, the
Chinese government has been cautious. No new licenses had been
approved since because of the concerns with GM in European Union
countries.
NCGA AND DIVERGENCE
TO WORK ON NEMATODE CONTROL
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) in the USA and Divergence, Inc.
will do a joint research on the control of parasitic nematodes, including the
identification of genes that might help provide resistance.
This
research hopes to provide farmers with a safe method to protect
plants from nematode pests. Current nematode control is accomplished
by using chemicals that can have serious consequences to human
and environmental health.
Divergence,
a research and development company in St. Louis, USA, is developing
nematicides, as well as nematode resistance plant genes that can
be delivered as valuable traits in the seed. NCGA is a federation
of state organizations, corn boards, councils and commissions that
develops and implements policies and programs to help protect and
advance corn producers' interests.
More
information about the National Corn Growers Association at http://www.ncga.com
AUSTRALIANS TRACK TRANSFER OF CHLOROPLAST DNA INTO NUCLEUS
Choroplast
DNA (cpDNA) moves into the nucleus at a detectable rate, but the
differences in expression mechanisms is not an issue for transgenic
plants created by inserting DNA into the chloroplast genome. This
was pointed out by Jeremy Timmis and Chun Huang of the University
of Adelaide and Michael Ayliffe at CSIRO Plant Industry in a paper
published in Nature.
The
researchers inserted a marker gene into the chloroplasts of tobacco
plants and then looked for it in about 250,000 of their offspring.
In about 1 in 16,000 of the seedlings, the gene had jumped from
chloroplast to nucleus, and was being expressed in a heritable
manner.
Timmis
says "We have known that cpDNA is found in the nucleus for
nearly 20 years but this is the first time the rate of transfer
has been estimated experimentally." He added that researchers
have not been doing similar experiments because "most people
thought it would be an evolutionary process that would be just
too rare to be measured in real time."
The
finding has importance in the evolution of the plant genomes. Timmis
clarifies that it is not possible to predict whether similar transfers
are going on in other species. "Tobacco is rare in two respects:
it is an allotetraploid and therefore may be more tolerant to such
insertional events and it has a fairly large genome with quite
a lot of "junk" repetitious DNA.
Contact
Jeremy Timmis at his email address: jeremy.timmis@adelaide.edu.au
CANADA-SWEDEN ESTABLISHES
PARTNERSHIP FOR FORESTRY GENOMICS
Aiming
to help protect and maximize the value of Canada and Sweden's forestry
resources, the University of British Columbia's Forestry Genomics
Group, represented by Dr. Brian Ellis and colleagues, and the Swedish
Tree Functional Genomics Consortium, headed by Dr. Goran Sandberg,
recently announced the collaboration of their forestry genomics
research projects.
This
combined poplar genomics research aims to provide new sustainable
strategies for breeding, nurturing and exploiting trees. This collaboration
between the two countries is expected to deepen understanding of
tree biology, particularly the genetic responses to stresses, pests
and the environment.
The
Sweden forestry project is partly funded by the Wallenberg Foundation,
and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF). On the
other hand, the Canadian research in poplar is in line with Canada's
large-scale forestry project spearheaded by the University of British
Columbia.
See
the full news release at http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2003/february/5329.htm.
FRANCE PROPOSES TAX
EXEMPTIONS FOR LIFE SCIENCE COMPANIES
French
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and his ministerial colleagues
for industry and research announced tax-cutting measures for research-based
companies. If approved by the French parliament, French biotechnology
companies would be exempt from paying "social costs" taxes,
which amounts to a surcharge of 60% on salaries. They will also
have 100% relief on corporate taxes.
Increases
in share value would also be exempt from capital gains tax for
both shareholders and other investors. This package is expected
to be acceptable to the European Union (EU) industrial competition
rules considering that it applies to all research-based companies.
However,
the proposed package would include only those companies that spend
more than 15% of turnover on research and development, and those
that are less than ten years old. Of the total number of companies
that will benefit from such an exemption, 15% are basically life
sciences companies.
The
full report is featured in Nature Biotechnology, Vol 21, February
2003 issue. It can also be downloaded at http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnology.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Conference
on Biodiversity, Biotechnology and the Protection of Traditional
Knowledge will be held at the Washington University School of Law,
St. Louis, Missouri; April 4-6, 2003. Topics for discussion are:
1) the protection of biodiversity; 2) the protection and regulation
of agricultural and plant biotechnology; and 3) the international
intellectual property implications of both of the foregoing, particularly
as they relate to the protection of traditional medicinal and agricultural
knowledge.
For
more information visit http://law.wustl.edu/centeris/upcomingevents/biodivsp02.html | 
