In This
Issue:
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
AND BIOTECH REGULATIONS
Developing
countries have to address regulatory issues if they want to benefit
from biotechnology. When the Cartagena Protocol comes into force,
according to Julian Kinderlerer of the Sheffield Institute of Biotechnological
Law and Ethics, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, countries
have to set in place legal and administrative systems to ensure
that they are able to deal with both exports and imports of living
modified organisms. If a scientific infrastructure to produce varieties
adapted for their environment is not in place, the development
of the capacity will take much longer.
Kinderlerer
indicates the following systems that countries need to be instituted
to ensure that any living modified organisms are used safely:
- A
system for receiving notifications about the intended introduction
of a living modified organisms.
- Specific
systems for different uses, i.e. a product to be used only for
food and feed versus those instituted with organisms that are
intended to be released into the environment.
- The
administrative system must examine the dossier submitted by an
applicant to ensure completeness.
- The
Government either performs or audits a risk assessment based
on information in the dossier. In either case a system must be
set up for scientific oversight of the dossiers received.
- Systems
must allow public and stakeholder comment to be considered.
- A
system for evaluating the risk assessment and/or the audit report
and any public comments.
The
full paper is available at http://www.unep.ch/biosafety/BTregulationJK.pdf
AUSTRALIA GEARS UP
LEGUME RESEARCH
The
Centre for Integrative Legume Research has been set-up in Australia
to provide top rate legume research. Based at the University of
Queensland in Brisbane, it combines the collaborative efforts of
four premier research universities in Australia, namely the University
of Queensland, University of Melbourne, The University of Newcastle
and the Australian National University in Canberra.
The
Centre's director, Peter M. Gresshoff, says the Queensland Premier,
Mr. Peter Beattie, as well as the University of Queensland provided
funds. The Australian Research Council allots A$10 million over
the 5 year time span, while the University of Queensland and the
State of Queensland will allot over A$1.2 M per year.
The
Centre will conduct research on the systems biology of plant development
and the coupling of genetic and metabolic processes to allow plant
growth. It will complement the predominantly cereal-based research
of the Australian Plant Functional Genomics Centre in Adelaide.
This complementation will enable a better understanding of the
abilities of plants in agricultural and ecological systems.
For
more information email Peter Gresshoff at p.gresshoff@botany.uq.edu.au
BIOTECH: NEW CHALLENGE
TO THAI BUSINESS SECTOR
The
Nation Multimedia Group recently held a panel discussion entitled "Challenges
and Opportunity for Biotechnology Business." During the discussion,
the panelists stated that biotechnology presents a new challenge
for the Thai business sector "and that the commercial sector
seeks more support from the government to help local firms commercialize
their products." Another point stressed was the need for government
to clearly define specific areas of biotechnology where Thailand
could compete globally.
The
panel members called biotechnology as "a key technology trend," and
have affirmed that the Thai government has agreed that biotechnology
is one of three technology sectors essential to the country's development.
The other two sectors mentioned were information and communication,
and nanotechnology.
Biotechnology
was also seen to have the potential to give entrepreneurs high
value on their investments. According to the panelists, more government
support is needed to boost biotechnology development in order to
inspire local researchers and business entrepreneurs to join the
field. At present, local businesses involved in biotechnology "lag
in technological standards, facilities and human resources, as
well as funding, thus limiting business opportunities."
The
panel members were: Pongsak Nantawannakul, general manager of Agri
Nature; Morakot Tanticharoen, director of the National Centre for
Genetics and Biotechnology (Biotec); Yongyuth Yuthawong, president
of the Thai Academy of Science and Technology Foundation; and Professor
Sirirurg Songsivilai, director of the Cellular and Molecular Immunology
at the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital.
The
full article is in http://www.nationmultimedia.com/page.arcview.php3?clid=6&id=71837&usrsess=1
ZAMBIA COMPLETES GM
GUIDELINES
Abel
Chambeshi, Minister of Science and Technology, announced that the
Zambian government has completed its proposed guidelines on genetically
modified (GM) food. The guidelines will be submitted to the Cabinet
where it will hopefully be endorsed into law.
According
to the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) which is
part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, the guidelines are expected to fill a legislative void
on the controversial subject. In particular, they were drawn up
after President Levy Mwanawasa banned the import of GM food aid
in 2002. The ban and the subsequent order to withdraw in-country
stocks left food relief agencies cutting rations and finding alternate
food sources for about 2.9 million people.
Go to http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31628&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&Select
Country=MALAWI-ZAMBIA for the full article.
POTENTIAL OF PLANT
BIOTECH WIDENS
Progress
in research has encouraged a massive surge in plant biotechnology
which is currently changing the vision of crop production and protection.
So says Dominique Job of Bayer CropScience in France. In a paper "Plant
Biotechnology in Agriculture" published in the international
journal Biochimie, Job says that the evolution of transformation
and breeding techniques have enabled researchers to respond to
criticisms raised against transgenic plants in agriculture.
Job
adds that technologies enable "us to envisage the feasibility
of improving the nutritional conditions for animal and humans (yield
increase, correction of nutritional deficiency, elimination of
antinutritional components, vitamin intake) and health (protein
and enzymes manufacture, vaccinal plants), to encourage the arrival
of multiple new industry-oriented products and to produce crops
that work in greater harmony with the environment in terms of their
water requirements, pesticides, and fertilizers".
Job
concludes that the finalization of new breeding methods, not based
on the use of anitibiotics or herbicides, and the transformation
of plastids provide examples that demonstrate a positive influence
on the social debate surrounding their development". All that
remains, Job asserts, is "to thoroughly evaluate the environmental
impact of these transgenic crops".
The
full paper is available online at http://www.sciencedirect.com
"JUMPING GENES" IN
RICE IDENTIFIED
A collaborative
research between US and Japanese researchers have identified the
first active DNA transposons in rice or "jumping genes".
They have also discovered the first active "miniature inverted-repeat
transposable element" or MITE of any organism.
The
work involved researchers at the University of Georgia, Cornell
and Washington University in the USA and National Institute of
Agrobiological Resources, National Institute for Basic Biology,
Tokyo Metropolitan University, University of Tokyo, Kyoto University
and Kinki University in Japan. Three papers are published in the
Jan. 9, 2003 edition of the journal Nature.
Rice
(Oryza sativa), an important food crop worldwide, has the
smallest genome size of all cereals at 430 million base pairs of
DNA. About 40 percent of the rice genome comprises repetitive DNA
that does not code for proteins and thus has no obvious function
for the plant. Much of this repetitive sequence appears to be transposons
similar to MITEs. But like most genomes studied to date, including
the human genome, the function of this highly repeated so-called "junk
DNA" has been a mystery. The discovery of active transposons
in rice provides startling new insights into how genomes change
and what role transposons may play in the process.
The
research findings will help researchers unravel the events leading
to the origin, spread, and disappearance of miniature transposons.
MITEs make up a large part of the non-coding DNA in plant genomes.
Through studies of transposons such as MITEs, researchers will
begin to understand the impact of so-called "junk DNA" on
the dynamic structure and function of the genomes of all organisms.
Visit http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/03/pr0303.htm for
additional details.
RR FODDER BEETS IMPROVE
BIODIVERSITY
Roundup
Ready treatments in fodder beets "may result in significant
improvements of weed flora and arthropod fauna during June and
early July" as compared to conventionally treated beet herbicide
plots. This was the major finding discussed in the National Environment
Research Institute's Technical Report entitled "Biodiversity
in Glyphosate Tolerant Fodder Beet Fields," by Beate Strandberg
and Marianne Bruus Pedersen of the Department of Terrestial Ecology,
National Environmental Research Institute in Denmark.
The
results showed that environmental benefits can be achieved if the
recommended label applications of Roundup Ready are followed, or
if herbicide applications are further delayed. Another observation
was that the production of weed seeds was reduced or entirely lacking.
This implies that the "availability of seeds as food for the
birds" may be affected. Significant changes in weed flora
could also occur.
Further
studies on "the effects over several seasons in relevant crop
rotations" are needed in order to determine the long-term
consequences of transgenic herbicide tolerant crops on biodiversity.
The full technical report of the National Environmental Research Institute
is available at http://www.dmu.dk/1_viden/2_Publikationer/3_fagrapporter/rapporter/FR410.pdf
MONSANTO RECEIVES
CLEARANCE FOR GM COTTON
Monsanto
announced that it has received full U.S. regulatory clearance for
its Bollgard II insect-protected cotton technology. Cotton producers
in the US will have limited access to cotton seed containing this
technology for the 2003 planting season.
Robb
Fraley, Monsanto's Chief Technology Officer, said that Bollgard
II is the second-generation of insect-protected cotton developed
by the company. It contains two different insect-control genes,
compared to the single insect-control gene in its predecessor Bollgard.
Visit http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/layout/media/02/12-23-02.asp for
the full report.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
New Journal:
Environmental Biosafety Research
A new
interdisciplinary journal, Environmental Biosafety Research, the
official journal of the International Society for Biosafety Research,
has just been launched. The new journal aims to provide a single
forum for the reporting and discussion of such issues as ecological
studies of the impact of novel organisms; studies of their interactions
with pests and pathogens; food and feed safety evaluation; impact
of novel organisms on agronomy and farming practice, effect on
microbial populations and assessment of horizontal gene flow.
The
initial copy is available free of charge at http://www.edpsciences.org/ebr.
For additional information send email to ebr@versailles.inra.fr
GE Proceedings Off the Press
Genetic
Engineering and the Intrinsic Value and Integrity of Animals and
Plants - Proceedings of a Workshop at the Royal Botanic Garden,
Edinburgh, UK is now available. Summary and full details of how
to order are at: http://www.anth.org/ifgene/2002.htm
Biotech Winter Symposium
The
2003 Miami Nature Biotechnology Winter Symposium will be held February
1-5, 2003 at Miami Beach Florida, USA. This year's theme is 50
Years On: From the Double Helix to Molecular Medicine.
James D. Watson and Francis Crick are the Symposium's Distinguished Service
Awardees for 2003. The opening keynote lecture will be presented by James Watson,
entitled: Finding the Double Helix.
For more information, visit http://www.med.miami.edu/mnbws and
register on-line.
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