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Biotechnology – What does the future hold?
By Dr. Mark Zarnstorff Director of Agricultural Research/Technology
The past year has shown a tremendous increase in the acceptance of biotechnology by producers for crop production in the United States. The past year has also shown a tremendous amount of concern about biotechnology and lack of acceptance of the products raised by US farmers in other countries. This article is an attempt to look at some of the basics of biotechnology, how biotechnology is currently being used for crop production, and what the short term implications of the concerns with biotechnology may hold for today’s producers.
Biotechnology Defined.
Biotechnology is a term that has gotten a lot of attention in the past few years. It is a term that under a broad definition means "the use of a living organism or its product for commercial purposes". Humans have been doing this type of biotechnology for thousands of years by baking bread, making wine and beer, and the domestication of plants and animals. The term has taken on a different meaning in the past 20 to 30 years due to the advances in the understanding of basic biology and chemistry. These advances have allowed people to gain an understanding of genetics and how DNA works within cells. Today’s biotechnology has led people to understand how DNA controls certain traits and then isolate the genes that control that trait. They have even developed techniques to move the pieces of DNA from one species to another. It is this ability to move DNA for specific traits between unlike species that holds so much potential for biotechnology, but also creates so much concern for other people. What I would like to do is review how biotechnology has become so important for modern agriculture (focusing on crop production), look at some of the concerns that are fueling renewed debate on biotechnology, and see how in the short term this debate will affect American agriculture.
Traditional and Biotechnology Methods for Crop Improvement
To understand the present situation with biotechnology we need to look back at what we have had in the past. The "traditional" breeding methods have been the source for the advance in crop and animal production over the past couple of hundred years. The traditional methods worked by selecting plants with the desired trait and crossing with a similar type plant that we wanted that trait incorporated into. This generally would also pass on unwanted traits that would require backcrossing to restore the qualities from the original plant. This process can take quite a while – usually 6 to 7 years to produce a new variety. There is not always a very closely plant that has the trait that we are interested in. Some times the plant breeders must to incorporate traits from more distantly related plants. This has worked to provide needed disease and insect resistance to crops but is more difficult to achieve. The down side with the traditional breeding methods is the amount of time that is required and whether the trait of interest is available in similar species or not.
The use of biotechnology (genetic engineering) allows the search for specific traits from whatever source it can be found in. That trait may be found in other plants, or possibly bacteria, animals, or humans. The genetic engineering has worked well with traits that are controlled by only single genes or very few genes. It has become quite easy to remove the gene sequence for the trait that you desire and by various methods insert into cells of the plant that you want that trait incorporated into. The cells are then grown out to whole plants to try and make sure that the trait is actually expressed as wanted. The methods to incorporate the spliced genes are not precise – in fact they are such that the DNA can be inserted in rather random ways. The insertion of the genetic material may cause other genes to be turned on or off which can cause major problems within the plant. The process was originally to be quite a bit quicker in providing new varieties but that has not always been the case.
Current use of Biotechnology in crop production.
Biotechnology has become extremely important for today’s agriculture. American farmers planted an estimated 60 million acres with genetically engineered corn and soybeans. This accounted for nearly half of the soybean acreage and a third of the corn acreage.
The use of biotechnology for crop production can be broken down into three main areas currently: herbicide resistance, insect resistance and disease resistance. The area of herbicide resistance deals with inserting genes from bacterium that allow the crops to be resistant to broad-spectrum herbicides. The broad-spectrum herbicides that have been used the most are Roundup ™ and Liberty ™. These herbicides provide good to excellent control of most plants that are actively growing at time of application, however the crops that have the gene for resistance inserted into them are not susceptible to the herbicides. This has made application easier for the producer in that he can apply just this one herbicide for control of both broadleaf and grass weeds. The producer may need to apply the chemical two or more times depending on the emergence of new weeds during the growing season and how these weeds may compete with the crop. There are a couple concerns that have arisen with the use of this technology. These concerns are with crops such as canola and sunflowers, those that have weed species that are closely related to the crops that have this new technology. Soybeans, corn, and cotton do not have closely related species here in the U.S., but do have related species in the Third World areas where many of these technologies are targeted for future use. There have been reports from Canada of crossing of between traditional canola varieties with some of the new transgenic varieties. This has resulted in crop volunteers that are weedier than in the past.
The use of insect resistance is something that has been of interest for many years with much of the conventional breeding working toward insect resistant varieties. There generally has not been as much advance as producers would like especially towards certain insects (corn borer, cotton boll weevil, and others). This has resulted in the use of insecticides to help control many of the insect pests that cause the damage. The genetic engineering has allowed the insertion of genes for Bt (Bacillus thurengensis) which has been used for years as a human friendly insecticide. This is one of the insecticides that is considered organic and can be used by organic producers. The use of the transgenic crops have resulted in better control of the insects, however there are concerns with this technology also. The biggest concern is that insects are very adaptive and have developed resistance to many different insecticides in the past. There are different insects that have also developed resistance to Bt, such as the diamond back moth, which has reduced the effectiveness of one of the types of that insecticide. There is concern that with the insertion of the gene that this will allow the insects to develop resistance more quickly because the insecticide is present throughout the plant for much longer than when applied when needed. There are different strategies that are now being developed to provide up to 40% of the crop that does not have the Bt present to allow susceptible insects a place to grow and breed with resistant types. The requirement for this to work is that the 40% of the acreage would not receive any insecticide application to allow the insects a refuge. The resistance issue would also limit the insecticides that are available to the organic grower, especially during a time when there is an increased interest and demand for organically grown crops for food. Another concern is that with the increased exposure to Bt that there may be increased cases of allergies or toxicity’s develop that have not been reported. This is true not only for Bt but for all of the other compounds produced by genetic engineering.
Disease resistance is another area of major concern and interest over the years. Much has been done by traditional breeding methods to try and breed disease resistance into the crops but this has not always worked because of limited sources of resistance. It has been found that the insertion of genes into a plant for the viral head coat (a protein that protects the actual virus) confers a form of resistance to that virus. The ability to provide protection from viruses is one of the greatest achievements because they are often the most difficult to control due to how they form and are passed from plant to plant.
Immediate Future of Biotechnology in Crop Production
The past year has seen several countries (especially in Europe and Asia) put limitations on the import of biotechnology into their countries. This has taken on the form of not allowing producers to use the technologies that are available (herbicide resistance, etc.) as well as not allowing the import of the products grown from those plants. It was originally felt that this was a means of reducing unwanted competition from imports for that countries farmers and producers. It soon became apparent that it was more than just a means to reduce imports but that there was genuine concern for the health of the food and the environment by the consumers of those countries. The concern stems to the fact that the consumers do not understand the processes that have been used to transform the foods. There is concern that there may be new allergies, possible toxins, or reduced nutrition from the food produced by biotechnology. The other concern is that there may be possible environmental changes occur because of movement of the genes that provide resistance to other plants, especially weeds. The concern can be understood by statements that have been made by proponents of biotechnology. The proponents of biotechnology have stated that this technology is something so new and holds so much promise that there is nothing that can’t be done with the respect of moving genes and creating new forms of crops. They then turn around and say that this is really nothing different than old fashion plant breeding and the outcomes will of course be safe. These statements would tend to lead most people to question the truth of the statements. This is part of the reason that there is renewed interest in requiring more testing of these products before they are released and used for every day foods. This concern is no longer felt only from outside the United States but there are several major food manufacturers that have stated that they will produce food only from non-genetically modified organisms (GMO).
What does this mean for the farmers/producers? There was a call by various processors (Archer Daniels Midland, and others) that the corn and soybeans produced be separated between the traditional and GMO types. This would allow them to export and reach those markets that required the non-GMO types. They were often offering premiums of up to $0.50 per bushel for traditional types. The need for the separation would be similar to what the organic producer faces. The organic standards require that producers maintain purity from the time the crop is planted until it is sold from the processor. There is a paper trail that is associated with the crop that ensures that where the crop was produced, from what seed source and that it was not stored or processed with non-organic material. The separation requirements for the GMO/non-GMO materials would require similar documentation and facilities to ensure this separation takes place. This could mean more on farm, elevator, and processor storage as well as more detail to separation during handling (trucking, movement through facilities, and such). The cost of these new facilities and extra handling would have to be paid by someone or it is not feasible to do.
The final answer ?
The answer to the future of biotechnology for crop production is yet to be determined. The next two or three of years will provide an answer to how biotechnology will continue to be used in crop production. The final answer will depend on how the consumers accept this technology and those to come. The possibility, in the short term, is that there will be some sort of labeling of the foods that have been created with GMO material and the consumers will make their determination of what they think by the buying of the product or not. The farmers/producers will have the unenviable task of trying to determine whether it will be more profitable to produce the traditional or biotech types of crops. They may have many reasons to want to use the biotech varieties but may feel that they will not have a place to sell their crop. There will probably be many decisions that will not be made until late in the winter as to which way the producer will go.
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