The regulatory bottleneck for biotech specialty crops

Speciality crops. Image from Colorado State University.

We often hear that there are only two genetically engineered traits on the market – Roundup Ready and Bt. And, for the most part, that’s correct. There are a few other commercialized traits, such as virus resistant papaya and squash, but why aren’t there more? We see all sorts of papers about awesome genetically engineered traits, from nemotode resistance to nutritional enhancement to really specialized traits like nicotine free tobacco and allergen free peanuts. There are so many traits that we even started a list at Biofortified in an attempt to keep track of them all.

These traits have been developed and tested for efficacy, often with public funding, but haven’t make it to the commercialization stage. All that’s needed is a little breeding to get these traits ready for market. Why don’t we see them in the grocery store? UC Davis researchers Kent Bradford and Jamie Miller have collected a huge amount of data on genetically engineered traits and presented it in their recent paper The regulatory bottleneck for biotech specialty crops. It’s a short but insightful piece. Don’t forget to check out the supplementary material that has lists of all the different traits they found described in the literature.

Those naughty plants!

Potentially promiscuous pollen from corn tassels by circulating via Flickr.

Many people, including me, are concerned about potential harm to crop biodiversity from gene flow. Most people’s concern focuses on transgenics. There is a certain probability, albeit small, that transgenes will end up in the progeny of non-transgenic plants, weedy relatives of the crop, or wild relatives that grow nearby due to pollen flow. Transgenes can also be moved from place to place by accidental or purposeful movement of seeds.

How much transgene flow is actually happening is a subject of some controversy, but what about gene flow between non-transgenic plants?

There is potential for problems whenever plants that aren’t supposed to cross stray from their intended mates. Some things to think about include how gene flow happens at the field and genetic levels and what characteristics of the genes themselves can affect permanence of contaminating genes once they get into a variety they shouldn’t be in.

A Vf gene a day keeps the fungus away

Ever gotten apples from the farmer’s market or grocery store only to have them go bad in the back of your fridge? I know I have. Just a few weeks ago, I got about 20 apples from the CSA. Unfortunately, I can only eat so many per day and they started to go bad before I got to eat them. Some of them got really nasty (as you can see to the right) within just a few days despite being in the fridge.

Eating locally is great, but since apples only ripen once per year, and they spoil relatively fast, that means we only have fresh apples for a short time each year. That’s too bad, since apples are a wonderful crunchy snack loved by kids and adults that provide health benefits from their fiber and antioxidants.

Pollution-fighting poplar trees

Back in October, I posted about Poplar trees genetically engineered to remove carcinogens from groundwater. The project is moving from the experimental stage into real world application, as described in Fighting pollution the poplar way. The test site was used for oil storage in the 1960s, and became contaminated with trichloroethylene. TCE is an industrial solvent that “has been found in at least 852 of the 1,430 National Priorities List sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [ATSDR].”
The trees were engineered to over-express the protein cytochrome P450. It is found in most organisms, from plants to people, and functions as a catalyst in many reactions. In laboratory conditions, the transgenic trees were able to remove 91% of TCE from a liquid solution, compared to just 3% removed by untransformed poplars. “The poplar plants — all cuttings just several inches tall growing in vials — also were able to break down, or metabolize, the pollutant into harmless byproducts at rates 100 times that of the control plants [SD].” The plants are able to detoxify a range of chemicals, including chloroform and benzene. The trees can remove chemicals from the air as well as from soil and water.
One benefit of using poplar trees over other plants is that they grow in a wide variety of climates. Another benefit is that they take five years to reach sexual maturity. As long as the trees are harvested before they start producing pollen, the transgenes can not spread to native poplars. These researchers plan to harvest the trees after three years, time that should be adequate to clean up the site. The group is also researching the use of poplars for ethanol, ensuring that the plants will be put to further good use.

Saving the world, one GMO at a time

Arcadia Biosciences has developed rice that uses nitrogen more efficiently, so the plants need less fertilizer. As described in the Guardian article Biotech firm plans to fund GM rice crops with carbon credits yesterday, Arcadia “is working with the Chinese government to reward farmers in China that grow the firm’s genetically modified (GM) rice, with carbon credits that they can sell for cash.”