This is a peer-reviewed, post-print (final draft post-refereeing) version of the following published document:

Parisi, Claudia and Vigani, Mauro and Rodríguez-Cerezo, Emilio (2015)

Agricultural Nanotechnologies: What are the current possibilities? Nano

Today, 10 (2). pp. 124-127. ISSN 17480132

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2014.09.009

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Parisi, Claudia and Vigani, Mauro and Rodríguez-

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Nanotechnologies: What are the current

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17480132

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1

*Title Page (including author details)

Nano Today - News and Opinions

Agricultural Nanotechnologies: what are the current

possibil it ies?

Claudia Parisi*1, Mauro Vigani1, Emilio Rodríguez-Cerezo1

1 European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Prospective

Technological Studies (IPTS). Edificio Expo, C/ Inca Garcilaso 3. 41092 Seville, Spain.

*Corresponding author: Claudia.parisi@ec.europa.eu,

tel. +34 954 488 334,

fax +34 954 488 437

The views expressed are purely those of the authors and may not in any cir cumstances

be regarded as stating an official position of the European Commission.

*Graphical Abstract (for review)

Crop protection

• Plant protection products

• Fertilizers

Plant breeding

Plant genetic modification

Nanoparticles

from plants

Diagnostic: Nanosensors

• Plant health and growth

• Environment and soil

conditions

Water purification and

pollutant remediation

Soil improvement

Water/liquid retention

1

*Highlights (for review)

Research highlights Nanotechnology is one of the six Key Enabling Technologies of the European

Commission for sustainable competitiveness and industrial growth.

Researchers are seeking in nanotechnology a new source of key improvements for the

agricultural sector.

Despite the potential advantages, applications in the agricultural sector have not yet

made it to the market.

Agricultural nanotechnologies did not demonstrate a sufficient economic return that

could counterbalance the high initial investments.

The way the regulation is designed is crucial, since it can affect products that are

already on the market from decades.

Public opinion towards nanotechnology is currently not negative and nanotech

products with clear benefits could drive consumer acceptance.

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*Manuscript Click here to view linked References

Nano Today - News and Opinions 1

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3 Agricultural Nanotechnologies: what are the current 5

6 possibil it ies? 8 9 1 1 1

10 Claudia Parisi* , Mauro Vigani , Emilio Rodr íguez-Cerezo

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13 1 European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Prospective

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15 Technological Studies (IPTS). Edificio Expo, C/ Inca Garcilaso 3. 41092 Seville, Spain. 16

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22 *Corresponding author: Claudia.parisi@ec.europa.eu,

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25 tel. +34 954 488 334, 26

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35 The views expressed are purely those of the authors and may not in any cir cumstances 36

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Abstract 1

2 Nanotechnology is recognised by the European Commission as a Key Enabling Technology 3

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that contributes to sustainable competitiveness and growth in several industrial sectors. The 6

7 current challenges of sustainability, food security and climate change are engaging 8 9 researchers in exploring the field of nanotechnology as new source of key improvements for

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12 the agricultural sector. However, concrete contributions are still uncertain. Despite the 13

14 numerous potential advantages of nanotechnology and the growing trends in publications and 15

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17 patents, agricultural applications have not yet made it to the market. Several factors would 18

19 explain the scarcity of commercial applications. On the one hand, industry experts stress that 20

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22 agricultural nanotechnology did not demonstrate a sufficient economic return to 23

24 counterbalance the high initial production investments. On the other hand, the new nanotech 25

26 regulation in the EU requires further discussion and agreement among parties that might

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29 create regulatory uncertainty for products already on the market and thereby affect public 30

31 perception. However, recent studies demonstrate that public opinion is not negative towards 32

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34 nanotechnology and that the introduction on the market of nanotech products with clear 35

36 benefits will likely drive consumer acceptance of more sensitive applications. Additionally, 37

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39 the rapid progress of nanotechnology in other key industries may over time be transferred to 40

41 agricultural applications as well, and facilit ate their development. 42

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Main text 1

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3 Nanotechnology is recognised by the European Commission as one of the six Key Enabling 4

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Technologies that contribute to sustainable competitiveness and growth in several fields of 7

8 industrial application [1]. The new chemical and/or physical properties of nano-scale particles 9

10 provide useful functions [2] that are being rapidly exploited in medicine, biotechnology,

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13 electronics, material science and energy sectors, among others. 14

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16 These promising developments concern also the agricultural sector, in which continuous 17

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19 innovation is strongly needed because of the arising global food security and climate change 20

21 challenges. In the past, agriculture benefited from several and different technological 22

23 innovations, like hybrid varieties, synthetic chemicals and biotechnology, and researchers are

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26 now seeking in nanotechnology a new source of key agricultural improvements. However, 27 28 while the food industry is showing to be clearly benefited from nanotechnology (in particular 29

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31 for food processing, distribution, packaging and functional food), its real contribution to the 32

33 agricultural sector is still uncertain. 34

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According to leading R&D analyses1, research on agricultural nanotechnology applications is 38

39 ongoing for largely a decade by now, searching for solutions to several agricultural and 40

41 environmental challenges, such as sustainability, improved varieties and increased

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44 productivity. Several authors show the growing trend of both scientific publications and 45

46 patents in agricultural nanotechnology, especially for disease management and crop 47

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49 protection [3-5]. Nanomaterials in agriculture aims in particular to reduce the amount of 50

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52 1 The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European 53 Commission (EC) organised a Workshop in November 2013 aiming to reveal the actual contribution of 54 nanotechnology to the agricultural sector. The workshop focused on reviewing the state-of-the-art of R&D of 55 agricultural nanotechnology, discussing current and potential markets of nano-products with applications in crop 56 production and reviewing the regulations concerned by agricultural nanotechnologies applications. Leading 57 scientists, experts, regulators and representatives of the farming and industrial sectors actively participated at the 58 workshop, to present research and industry results and discuss experiences. Full proceedings of the workshop 59 have been released electronically: JRC report, EUR 26625 EN – 2014. 60 http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/111111111/31846).

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sprayed chemical products by smart delivery of active ingredients, minimize nutrient losses 1

2 in fertilization [4] and increase yields through optimized water and nutrient management. 3

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5 Nanotechnology derived devices are also explored in the field of plant breeding and genetic 6

7 transformation [6]. Additionally, agriculture can be a source of bio-nanocomposites with 8

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enhanced physical-mechanical properties that can be extracted from traditionally harvested 11

12 materials, like wheat straw and soy hulls, for bio-industrial purposes [7]. Table 1 provides an 13

14 overview of the most relevant agricultural nanotechnology applications.

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18 Despite these potential advantages, nanotechnology applications in the agricultural sector are 19

20 still comparably marginal and have not yet made it to the market to any larger extent in 21

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23 comparison with other industrial sectors. The wave of research discoveries seems to be 24

25 mainly claimed by the academic world or small enterprises, while big industries reveal a 26

27 large patent ownership. The trends of patent applications (mainly from agro-chemical

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30 companies) are continuously growing, but no new nano-based products for the agricultural 31 32 sector have reached the market. This suggests that applicants are actively patenting and 33

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35 keeping broad patent claims in order to assure future freedom to operate and to guarantee 36

37 future exploitation in case of promising commercial developments. 38

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Large companies are investigating the potential that nanotech solutions offer in the 42

43 agricultural field. However, according to industry experts, agricultural nanotechnologies so 44

45 far did not demonstrate a sufficiently high economic interest. Nanotech products require high

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48 initial investments that can be counterbalanced only by large-scale field uses, which is 49

50 currently not the case. Among the reasons of the difficulties of agricultural nanotechnologies 51

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53 developments at field level, industrial organizations address regulatory issues and public 54

55 opinion.

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One of the main aspects of regulating nano-materials is the achievement of a definition 1

2 agreed among parties and, possibly, harmonized at international level. The definition of nano- 3

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5 materials seems not to be straightforward and is not just a matter of size as such. The nano- 6

7 size can be applied to one or more dimensions and the form of the particles can be in 8

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aggregate, agglomerates or nanostructured materials. Moreover, since nanotechnology is 11

12 applied in different industrial sectors, different regulatory bodies and pieces of regulations are 13

14 involved for its safety assessment.

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18 Many countries are now setting definitions and regulatory frameworks for nanotechnology 19

20 [8]. In the EU, the main horizontal regulation covering nanotechnology applications is the 21

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23 REACH (EU Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of 24

25 Chemicals) [9], and there is an ongoing discussion on the definition, which covers 26

27 nanoparticles in aggregates and agglomerates in the size range of 1-100 nm [10]. The current

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30 EC definition does not make the distinction between products that are intentionally 31 32 manufactured to contain nano-scale materials, from those which contain particles that 33

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35 involuntary fall under the EC nano-definition and that are already in the market since 36

37 decades. The proposed definition will be reviewed in the light of new experience and of 38

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40 scientific and technological developments. 41

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43 Industry organisations have pointed to the effects that regulation, especially on labelling, can 44

45 have on public opinion and the negative perception that this can create about a new

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48 technology. There is concern that consumers may reject products labelled as nano-products 49

50 and this rejection might have also a retroactive effect, concerning products (i.e. nano-scale 51

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53 formulants such as clay, silica etc.) already present on the market for decades that 54

55 involuntarily contain nano-size materials and that might fall under the nano-definition.

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However, some studies on consumer preferences demonstrate that overall public opinion is 1

2 not negative towards nanotechnology [11] and that it is particularly influenced by perceived 3

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5 benefits and usefulness of the technology. The results of the studies suggest that nanotech 6

7 products with clear benefits and acceptable/low risks for the consumers, like medical and 8

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environmental applications, if introduced first into the market, could drive the acceptance of 11

12 other applications to be introduced later on, e.g. pesticides solutions, which is an area where 13

14 societal concerns already exists.

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18 In conclusion, agro-nanotech innovative products are presenting difficulties in reaching the 19

20 market, making agriculture still a marginal sector for nanotechnology. This is due in 21

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23 particular to the high production costs of large amounts of nanotech products, as required in 24

25 the agricultural sector, unclear technical benefits on a large scale and legislative uncertainties, 26

27 which can also influence public opinion. Nevertheless, the R&D landscape is very promising

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30 and is actively exploring the possibilities offered by nanotechnology in several agricultural 31 32 applications. Additionally, nanotechnology is progressing at rapid pace in other fields. The 33

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35 knowledge gained in emerging key sectors, such as energy and packaging, may over time be 36

37 transferred, or may provide spill-overs, to agricultural applications as well. For instance, 38

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40 improved fuel additives and lubricants can improve the performance and the carbon footprint 41

42 of agricultural machineries and improved packaging measures can benefit farmers in 43

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reducing the degradation of the products before commercialisation. Also progress in 46

47 environmental monitoring and drug delivery techniques [12] can positively affect the 48

49 agricultural and livestock sector indirectly.

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References 1

2

3 [1] EC, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the 4 European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. ‘A European 5 strategy for Key Enabling Technologies - A bridge to growth and jobs’. http://eur- 7 lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0341:FIN:EN:PDF (2012). 8

9 [2] ObservatoryNANO FP7, European nanotechnology landscape report. 10 http://www.scor.com/en/sgrc/pac/motor/item/1327-european-nanotechnology-landscape- 11 report.html (2011). 13

14 [3] R.K. Sastry, H.B. Rashmi, N.H. Rao, J. Intellect. Prop. Rights, 15 (2010) 197-205. 15

16 [4] A. Gogos, K. Knauer, T.D. Bucheli, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 60 17 (2012) 9781-9792. 18

19

[5] ObservatoryNANO, Briefing No. 20. Statistical Patent Analysis. Patents: an indicator of 21 nanotechnology innovation. 22 http://www.nanopinion.eu/sites/default/files/briefing_no.20_patents_- 23 _an_indicator_of_nanotechnology_innovation.pdf. (2011). 24

25 [6] F. Torney, B.G. Trewyn, V.S.Y. Lin, K. Wang, Nat. Nanotechnol., 2 (2007) 295-300.

27

28 [7] A. Alemdar, M. Sain, Bioresource Technology, 99 (2008) 1664-1671. 29

30 [8] FAO/WHO, State of the art on the initiatives and activities relevant to risk assessment and 31 risk management of nanotechnologies in the food and agriculture sectors. FAO/WHO 32 technical paper. http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3281e/i3281e.pdf (2013). 34

35 [9] EC, Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 36 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of 37 Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency. Offi cial Journal of the 38 European Union, 396 (2006) 1-849. 39

40

41 [10] EC, Commission Recommendation of 18 October 2011 on the definition of 42 nanomaterial. http://eur- 43 lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:275:0038:0040:EN:PDF Official 44 Journal of the European Union, L 275 (2011) 38-40. 45

46

47 [11] N. Gupta, A.H. Fischer, S. George, L. Frewer, J. Nanopart. Res., 15 (2013) 1-15. 48

49 [12] H.C. Chen, M.C. Roco, J.B. Son, S. Jiang, C.A. Larson, Q. Gao, J. Nanopart. Res., 15 50 (2013). 51

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Table

Table 1. Relevant applications in agricultural nanotechnology and examples of

succesfull applications at small scale or R&D stage

CROP PRODUCTION

Definition Example Reference Plant

protection

products

Nanocapsules, nanoparticles,

nanoemulsions and viral capsids as

smart delivery systems of active

ingredients for disease and pest

control in plants

Neem oil (Azadirachta indica)

nanoemulsion as larvicidal

agent (VIT University, IN)

Anjali, C. H.,

Sharma, Y.,

Mukherjee, A. &

Chandrasekaran, N.

Pest Management

Science 68, 158-163

(2012) Fertilizers Nanocapsules, nanoparticles and

viral capsids for the enhancement

of nutrients absorption by plants

and the delivery of nutrients to

specific sites

Macronutrient Fertilizers

Coated with

Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

(University of Adelaide, AU

CSIRO Land and Water, AU

Kansas State University, US)

Milani, N. et al.

Journal of

Agricultural and

Food Chemistry 60,

3991-3998 (2012).

SOIL IMPROVEMENT Water/liquid

retention Nanomaterials, e.g. zeolites and

nano-clays, for water or liquid

agrochemicals retention in the soil

for their slow release to the plants

Soil-enhancer product, based

on a nano-clay component,

for water retention and

release (Geohumus-Frankfurt,

DE)

http://www.geohu

mus.com/us/produc

ts.html

WATER PURIFICATION Water

purification

and pollutant

remediation

Nanomaterials, e.g. nano-clays,

filtering and binding to a variety of

toxic substances, including

pesticides, to be removed from the

environment

Filters coated with TiO2

nanoparticles for the

photocatalytic degradation of

agrochemicals in

contaminated waters

(University of Ulster, UK)

McMurray, T. A.,

Dunlop, P. S. M. &

Byrne, J. A. J.

Journal of

Photochemistry and

Photobiology A-

Chemistry 182, 43-

51 (2006). DIAGNOSTIC Nanosensors Nanomaterials and nanostructures Pesticide detection with a Vamvakaki, V. & and diagnostic (e.g. electrochemically active liposome-based nano- Chaniotakis, N. A. devices carbon nanotubes, nanofibers and biosensor (University of Crete, Biosensors &

fullerenes) that are highly sensitive GR) Bioelectronics 22, bio-chemical sensors to closely 2848-2853 (2007). monitor environmental conditions, plant health and growth

PLANT BREEDING Plant genetic Nanoparticles carrying DNA or RNA Mesoporus silica Torney, F., Trewyn, modification to be delivered to plant cells for nanoparticles transporting B. G., Lin, V. S. Y. &

their genetic transformation or to DNA to transform plant cells Wang, K. Nature trigger defence responses, (Iowa State university, US) Nanotechnology 2, activated by pathogens. 295-300 (2007).

NANOMATERIALS FROM PLANT

2

Nanoparticles

from plants

Production of nanomaterials

through the use of engineered

plants or microbes and through the

processing of waste agricultural

products

Nanofibres from wheat straw

and soy hulls for bio-

nanocomposite production

(Canadian Universities and

Ontario Ministry of

Agriculture, Food and Rural

Affairs, CA)

Alemdar, A. & Sain,

M. Bioresource

Technology 99,

1664-1671 (2008).

1

Author Biographies

Authors' biographies

Claudia Parisi is Research Fellow at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European

Commission, at the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) located in Seville-

Spain. She is Biotechnologist and obtained her Ph.D. on New Plant Breeding Techniques at

the University of Córdoba, Spain. Before joining the JRC, she followed internship

programmes in FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), in Rome, and EFSA (European

Food Safety Authority), in Parma, Italy. She is currently dealing with research projects on

emerging techniques in agriculture, including nanotechnology, and on the monitoring of the

bio-based industry.

Mauro Vigani, is Research Fellow at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European

Commission, at the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) located in Seville-

Spain. He got his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Milan, where he

spent two years as post-doctorate at the Department of Economics, Management and

Quantitative Methods. He has publications on international journals on topics such as the

political economy of GMOs standards, GMOs patenting and agricultural labour market. He

2

participated in European research framework projects and in several international

conferences. His current research activity concerns the socio-economic impact of agricultural

innovations (GM crops, nanotechnology, microalgae-based food and feed), farm productivity

and risk management practices.

Emilio Rodr íguez-Cerezo obtained a degree in Agronomy (1983) and a Ph.D. in Plant

Pathology (1988) from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain). He started his career as

researcher on biotech-based plant resistance to viral diseases and molecular epidemiology of

disease outbreaks in crop plants. In 1997, he became active in the interface between

biotechnology and regulation after being elected member of the first European Union's

Scientific Committee for Plants (the embryo of what later became EFSA) in charge of risk

assessment of GMOs. In 2001 he joined the European Commission's (EC) Joint Research

Centre (JRC), the in-house scientific advisory body of the EC, at the Institute for Prospective

Technological Studies (IPTS) located in Seville-Spain. Since then he has led a group of

researchers providing policy support to policy makers in the fields of new biotechnologies in

agriculture, coexistence between GM and non-GM agricultural production, and the social and

economic impacts of biotech crops and the characterization of the EU bioeconomy.