“Post  GMO  Biotechnology”,    “New  Biotech  Plants”  “Hidden  GMOs”…  

What  are  we  talking  about?

Marie-­‐Cécile  DAMAVE-­‐HENARD    Agronomist,  Innovation  and  Markets  Specialist  henard@saf.asso.fr

Nuffield,  Contemporary  Scholars  Conference  March  4,  2015

Biotechnology  in  Agriculture  

• Taboo,   polarized   debate,   political   choice   not   to  use  it  in  France  

• As   a   think   tank   in   favor   of   progress   and  innovation   at   the   service   of   farmers’   autonomy  and  businesses,  we  are  maintaining  our  expertise  in  agricultural  biotechnology

• As  a  think  tank  for  agriculture  and  agribusiness,  saf  agr’iDées  focuses  on  the  conditions  that  govern  the  operation  and  development  of  the  companies  involved  in  this  industry.    

• As   an   independent   and   a  non-­‐political   organization,  with  humanity  and  progress  as  its  core  values,  saf  agr’iDées  is  committed  to  flexible  and  empowering  advances   that  enable  stakeholders   to  express   their  talents  and  potentials,  and  thus  to  achieve  the  cross-­‐cutting  objective  for  agriculture  and  agribusiness  to  fulfill  a  strategic  role.  

• Throughout   the   year,   saf   agr’iDées   organizes   events   of   various  formats   and   working   groups   with   a   view   to   generating   and  disseminating   ideas,  proposals,   and   to   raising  questions   surrounding  essential   changes   in   the   agricultural   industry   as   it   enters   the   21st  century.      

Unusual  in  France    

Taking  a  step  backObserving  ConsultingAnalyzing  

Recommending  Lobbying…

Roles  of  a  think  tank  

#Values #Synergies #Networks

#Humanism #Ethics #Commitment

#Progress

Agriculture  and  innovation  

Agriculture  is  innovative  by  nature     -­‐  meet  the  needs  of  mankind     -­‐  adapt  to  the  living   -­‐  combine  efforts  /  multidisciplinary   Innovation  in  agriculture  is  essential     -­‐  driver  of  economic  growth   -­‐  scientific  continuum     -­‐  grand  challenges  of  the  21st  century:    food  security       despite  limited  resources  and  climate  change   -­‐  making  agriculture  more  sustainable  

Agriculture  and  climate  change

• United  Nations  COP21  in  Paris  in  November  2015  

• February  20,  2015:       International  Forum  on  Agriculture  and  Climate  Change    

• February  21-­‐March  1,  2015:                                                                                      International  agricultural  show,  Paris  

• Technological  innovations  for  addressing  climate  change:    circular  economy,  soil  management,  technical  progress,  animal  and  plant  breeding  (President  Francois  Hollande,  February  20,  2015)

Science,  agriculture,  policy,  and  society• Agricultural  issues  have  become  societal  issues.  

• Society:  fear  risks,  in  contact  with  many  (often  extreme)  opinions,  anti-­‐science  and  anti  agriculture  activists  

• Science  and  agriculture  worlds  -­‐  societal  concerns    speak  different  languages  

• Policy  makers:  often  away  from  science  and  agriculture  

• Can  science  and  agriculture  meet  societal  needs  and  expectations?    

• Are  science  and  agriculture  sources  of  hope  or  fears?

Plant  Breeding

• Efficient  if  used  in  conjunction  with  other  technologies  (precision  farming,  irrigation,  machinery…)  and  practices  

• Meet  mankind  needs:  make  a  living,  eat,  be  in  good  health…  

• Increased  productivity  with  less  input  

• Adaptation  to  climate  change  (more  extreme  weather  conditions,  limited  resources)  

• Plant  breeding  technologies  are  expanding  –  biotechnology  and  conventional  breeding

saf  agr’iDées  Online  Publications

Reports:  

-­‐ Agroecology  and  biotechnology  

-­‐ Public/private  partnerships  

-­‐ New  biotech  plants  

-­‐ Changes  in  EU  regulation

saf  agr’iDées  and  Biotechnology

June  2014  -­‐  agr’iDébat:    

Example  of  Golden  Rice:    

is  health  for  everyone?

October  2014  –  Conference  saf  agr’iDées-­‐AFBV    

Biotechnology  at  the  service  of  agroecology  

• “Post-­‐GMO  Biotechnology”      

• “New  GMOs”  

• “Hidden  GMOs  ”  

• “New  biotech  plants”?

New  expressions  have  recently  emerged:  what  do  they  mean?

Transgenesis  has  been  used  in  plant  breeding  for  more  than  30  years

Who  grows  GM  Plants?

http://www.isaaa.org

20  Years  of  Commercial  Production

NATURE,  MAY  2013,  INTERNATIONAL  SERVICE  FOR  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  AGRI-­‐BIOTECH  APPLICATIONS  (ISAAA.ORG)  

Main  crops  and  traits  on  the  market

NATURE,  MAY  2013,  INTERNATIONAL  SERVICE  FOR  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  AGRI-­‐BIOTECH  APPLICATIONS  (ISAAA.ORG)  

From  GMOs  to  New  Biotech  Plants

• First  Generation:  species  and  traits  with  the  highest  returns  on  investments,  for  developers  who  could  afford  it  

• Do  «  first-­‐generation  »  plants  belong  to  the  past?  

• Multi-­‐dimension  diversification:  traits,  species,  developers,  technologies  

• What  name  should  they  have?  Are  they  all  GMOs?  GMO  regulations  are  becoming  obsolete

Les  mots  sont  importants

• LES  biotechnologies  

•Biotechnologies  post-­‐OGM  ?  

•Nouveaux  OGM  ?  

•Nouvelles  plantes  biotech  ?

Transitio

ning  to

 

next  bi

otech  c

rops  

-­‐  More  cash  crops,  fruits  &  vegetables  -­‐  Combined  &  more  diverse  agronomical  traits,  nutritional  traits,  industrial  uses  -­‐  Private,  public  research  &  public-­‐private  partnerships  -­‐  Wider  range  of  biotechnologies  -­‐  Economic,  environmental  &  social  sustainability  -­‐  Also  benefitting  processors,  consumers,  &  the  environment  

-­‐  4  main  species  of  cash  crops  -­‐  2  agronomical  traits  -­‐  Private  developers  -­‐  Transgenesis  -­‐  Economic  sustainability    -­‐  Benefitting  farmers  and  developers  

Different  Generations

1st  Generation Other  Generations

When PAST,  PRESENT,  future Past,  PRESENT,  FUTURE

Who Multinational  corporations,  public  research

MNCs,  public/private  partnerships,  public  research,  smaller  companies

Why Economic  sustainability Economic,  environmental,  social  sustainability

Where Developed  and  developing  countries  

Developed  and  developing  countries  

For  whom Seeds  industry,  farmers,  processors

Seeds  industry,  farmers,  processors,  consumers  

What Cash  crops Cash  crops  and  specialty  crops

Next  edible  biotech  plants  with  biotic  stress  resistance

Transgenic  ‘big  four’  (soybean  corn  cotton  canola)  with  new  biotic  stress  resistance  

Combined  resistance  to  several  pests,  tolerance  to  several  herbicides,  or  both

New  edible  plants  resistant  to  biotic  stresses  

• New  grains  -­‐  rice,  wheat  

• Fruit  trees  –  apple,  banana,  chestnut,  citrus,  grapevine,  plum  tree,  sugarcane,  walnut  

•  Vegetables  –  cassava,  cowpea,  egg  plant,  potato,  sweet  potato,  tomato  

Next  edible  biotech  plants  with  abiotic  stress  resistance

• Drought  

Canola,  corn,  peanut,  rice,  ryegrass,  sugarcane,  soybean,  tomato,  wheat  

Corn  and  rice  –  several  public/private  partnerships  in  developing  countries

• Flooding/submergence,  salinity  

       Corn,  rice,  wheat  

• Nitrogen  Use  Efficiency            Corn,  rice,  wheat  

Next  edible  biotech  plants  with  nutritional  traits

• Biofortification  •  Banana,  cassava,  corn,  potato,  tomato,  strawberry,  rice,  sorghum  

•  Enriched  in  vitamins  A,  B9,  &  C,  zinc,  iron,  and  protein

• Limiting  food  waste  

• Non  browning  potato  and  apples  

• Healthy  human  diet  • Low  saturated  high  oleic  soybeans  and  camelina  

• Gluten-­‐free  wheat  

• Color  change  • Pineapple  enriched  in  lycopene  

• Grapevine  with  increased  anthocyanin  production  

• Higher  digestibility  for  livestock  • Low  lignin  alfalfa  

• Improved  phytase  activity  in  barley

Developing  countries,  public/private  partnerships

Developed  countries,  private  developers

Next  biotech  plants  producing  therapeutic  molecules

Vaccines,  enzymes  • Corn  –  Hepatitis  B,  Gaucher  disease;  lactoferrin  

•  Tobacco  –  Ebola,  mouse  Guy  

•  Spinach  –  rabies

Human  insulin  • Safflower

Collagen  

• Tobacco  

Next  biotech  plants  with  industrial  applications

Biofuels  

• Camelina  -­‐  aviation  fuels  

• Advanced  cellulosic  ethanol  –  miscanthus,  poplar,  sugarcane,  switchgrass

Phytoremediation  

• Aspen  trees  –  polluted  soil  and  water

Paper  

• Eucalyptus,  poplar    

Starch  

• Poplar    

Can  new  biotech  plants  be  better  perceived  by  the  public  opinion?Can  the  values  they  carry  make  them  more  acceptable?    Legal  uncertainty:  where  are  we  going?Can  these  plants  be  part  of  the  tools  in  the  toolbox  for  individual  farmers  and  globally  for  addressing  the  grand  challenges  of  the  21st  century?

Public  Perception  of  Emerging  Generations    of  Biotech  Plants

Take-­‐Away  Messages• Communicating  with  the  public  is  difficult  for  science  and  agriculture  

• Strategic  roles:  But  agriculture  and  science  are  back  on  the  agenda  to  address  global  (food  security,  climate  change)  and  local  challenges  (economic  and  environmental  sustainability)  

• Agricultural  biotechnology  is  more  than  it  was  when  it  started,  is  expanding,  addresses  a  wider  scope  of  issues  

• Agricultural  biotechnology  is  a  powerful  tool  in  the  toolbox,  and  must  be  used  with  other  technologies  and  appropriate  agricultural  practices  to  reach  sustainable  benefits

Marie-­‐Cécile  DAMAVE-­‐HENARD    Agronomist,  agricultural  economist  Manager,  Innovation  and  markets  henard@saf.asso.fr