the how, where and why of genetically engineered...

Steve StraussDistinguished ProfessorOregon State University

[email protected]

The How, Where and Why of Genetically Engineered Plants

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• Your views: Clickers

• Sources of controversy

• Foundation science

• What are and what are not GMOs?

• Use & impacts of the major GMO crops

• Tour of some less well known GE crops

• More controversy

• An ethical perspective

Agenda

True or False: Natural food is healthiest

A. True

B. False

True or False: Most food is genetically

modified

A. True

B. False

GMO crops are defined as those with

genes from different species

A. True

B. False

Scientists agree that organically certified,

GMO-free food is safer for humans and

better for the environment

A. True

B. False

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/

Scientists and society can differ

greatly

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/

There are many pieces of the GMO

controversy

• “It is accurate to say that many of the real

ethical issues [of GMOs in agriculture] have little

to do with the use of transgenic technologies”

(Burkardt et al. 2005, Agricultural Ethics, CAST)

…lots and lots of pieces….

• Large vs. small-scale agriculture

• Plant variety protection

• Ecological impacts

• Food safety

• Poverty and malnutrition

• Defining precaution

• Gene flow regulation

• Benefits vs. risks of pesticides

• Intensification vs. extensification

Proponents of various issues frequently

distort science to influence perceptions

Money: Advocacy targeting conventional

food & agriculture is large and growingAgbiotech Info Net

Agribusiness Examiner

ACGA

American Pasturage

APHA

Animal Protection Institute

Beyond Pesticides

NCRLC

Center for Food Safety

Center for Informed Food Choices

Center for Media & Democracy

CSPI

Chef’s Collaborative

Children’s Health Env Coalition

Common Dreams

Consumer Federation of America

Consumers Union

Crop Choice

David Suzuki Foundation

Dawn Watch

Deep Ecology

Eco-Trust

Economic Democracy

Earth Spirit

Earth First

Environmental Defense

Environmental Media Services

FAIR

Family Farm Defenders

Farm Animal Reform Movement

Farm Aid

Farm Sanctuary

Friends of the Earth

GRACE

Government Accountability Project

Green Guide Institute

Green Party USA

Greenpeace

Humane Farm Association

Humane Society US

IATP

Institute for Public Accuracy

Land Institute

Local Harvest

NFFC

Nishoren

No Spray coalition

NWARN

Organic Consumers Association

PANNA

PETA

PCRM

PIRG

Public Citizen

Purdey Fund

Sierra Club

SEAC

Water Keeper Alliance

More than 500 activist organizations in North America are spending in excess of $2 billion annually engaging in food-related campaigns targeting biotech and many other elements

Jay Byrne, 2012, V-fluence

Revised 2014

Mainstream science is supportive

of responsible uses of GMOs

https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/aspb.site-ym.com/resource/group/6d461cb9-5b79-4571-a164-924fa40395a5/Statements/ASPB_GE_revision.APPROVED_ed.pdf

http://www.axismundionline.com/blog/the-new-is-gm-food-safe-meme/

Safety supported by many dozens of

international science organizations

http://www.axismundionline.com/blog/the-new-is-gm-food-safe-meme/

Maize

Rice

Tomato

Lettuce

Banana

These are highly genetically modified

but not GMO

Many plant varieties derived from

induced mutations – not GMO

Calrose 76 semi-dwarf rice

High oleic sunflower

Over 2,000 crop varieties derived from mutagenesis have been commercialized

Rio Red grapefruit

Domesticated animals are radically

modified

Breeding continues and is accelerating in

age of massive DNA sequencing

GMO method (genetic engineering)

defined: Asexual genetic modification

Traditionalplant breeding

x

Variety A

Variety B

Geneticengineering

x

Asexual modification or insertion

from any gene source

Agrobacterium is a natural plant

genetic engineer

Regeneration of biotech

plants

Growth in the fieldPropagation of poplars in tissue culture

Then propagated normally (seeds, cuttings) and tested for health and new qualities, incorporated into breeding programs

Coming: Gene editing technology for

diverse traits – biotech or breeding?

TALENs

CRISPRs

Gene edited crops, where no new genes

are added but DNA is specifically

changed, should be tightly regulated like

other GMO crops

A. Agree

B. Disagree

Biotech crops widespread, rapidly

adopted: Grown on >10% arable land on planet, extensive uptake in developing world

http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/46/pptslides/Brief46slides.pdf


Four crops dominate,

8 crops grown in USA



Two traits, and stacks of them,

dominate



Large global benefits2014 global “meta-analysis”

147 original studies included

“On average, GM technology adoption has

reduced chemical pesticide use by 37%,

increased crop yields by 22%, and increased farmer profits by 68%”

Herbicide tolerant plants promote

conservation tillage – With many

environmental benefits thereofConservation Technology Information Center

•Lowers greenhouse gas emissions•Improves soil organic matter•Reduces erosion and fertilizer

runoff into water

Global: In 2012 reduced CO2 emissions by ~27 billion kg, equivalent to ~13 million cars off the roadhttp://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/46/topfacts/default.asp

http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/46/topfacts/default.asp

Poor weed management has led to rapid

development of herbicide-resistant weedsAnd motivated development of new kinds of herbicide

tolerant crops

Herbicide-resistant weeds are an old

problem in agriculture, but exacerbated by

GE herbicide tolerant crops

Accelerated by GE Roundup-tolerant crops

“Half of all children will be Autistic by 2025

due to Roundup warns MIT scientist.”

-Seneff has no background in

toxicology, agriculture or a

related health profession

-Her statistical approaches

have been heavily criticized

-She has proposed that

glyphosate binds gluten to

cause LOTS of diseases

-She is rabidly anti-GMO

-She pays to be published in

predatory journals

Examples of new biotech crops

and trees in pipeline

Stress toleranceDrought-tolerant maize planted on >150,000 acres

in USA, also being tested in Africa. Important tool

given climate change, water shortages?

Many more stress tolerance, physiological

innovations in the pipeline

Virus-resistant GM papayaSaved the Hawaiian industry in the mid-1990s,

~70% of crop today

Courtesy of Denis Gonsalves, formerly of Cornell University

Like a vaccine

–

“RNAi

immunization”

via implanting

a viral gene in

the papaya

genome

GMO, virus-resistant trees

HoneySweet plum with RNAi

resistance to plum pox virusRalph Scorza USDA-ARS

GE

Non-GE

• Virus resistance using this method also successful for cassava and many other species

• RNAi recently demonstrated for insect resistance – corn rootworm product under development

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=6Ny2QLBDFAX72M&tbnid=udyg1Bu13ZfeKM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_pox&ei=m9zDU4KvO_DJsQSk-ILQCQ&bvm=bv.70810081,d.cWc&psig=AFQjCNEUm5g_DIXuDCSeNmVU98SpGCygwg&ust=1405431188830952http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=6Ny2QLBDFAX72M&tbnid=udyg1Bu13ZfeKM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_pox&ei=m9zDU4KvO_DJsQSk-ILQCQ&bvm=bv.70810081,d.cWc&psig=AFQjCNEUm5g_DIXuDCSeNmVU98SpGCygwg&ust=1405431188830952

Healthier foods: High oleic acid soy oil

“The developers, Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer, have manipulated the genes of the soybean to radically alter the composition of its oil to make it longer-lasting, potentially healthier and free of trans fats.”

“It almost mirrors olive oil in terms of the composition of fatty acids.”

Purple GM tomatoes with increased

antioxidants and rot resistance

“Innate” potato – Reduced browning and

more – only native potato genes and modified

gene expression

One hour after cutting – Control vs. Innate

Two days after cutting – Innate vs. Control

“Innate” potato – late blight resistant,

reduced acrylamide, reduced sprouting and

browning (↓ waste, ↑ safety, ↓ pesticide, ↑ yield)

• If all USA potatoes had it’s improved traits,

each year….

• Waste reduced by 5 billion pounds

• CO2 emissions reduced by 734 million pounds

• Water use reduced by 84 billion gallons

• 2.5 million fewer pesticide acre-applications

• Marketable yields increase ~ 20%

• Growers save $240 million in production costs

Innate benefits

Referenced analyses by Simplot Plant Sciences

Diverse pipeline of biofortification

products = enhancement of critical

vitamins or nutrients

More than half of the human population suffers from malnutrition!

Billions suffer from micronutrient deficiencyWidespread, impacts severe, and decades of supplements

unable to overcome

Vitamin A deficiency affects one-third of children under the age of five around the world

Image sources: Petaholmes based on WHO data;

Young women suffering blindness due to Vit A deficiency

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vitamin_A_deficiency.PNGhttp://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/vitamin_a_pub/en/

The HarvestPlus program – worldwide

impact by traditional breeding

• Nutrient targets start at:

• 30% of the EAR of iron

• 40% of the EAR of zinc

• 50% of the EAR of provitamin A

• Reaches more than 40 countries

• Rice

• Cassava

• Sorghum

• Banana

Biotech methods useful where breeding is

ineffective or slow

RiceCassava

http://www.commodityonline.com/news/dupont-reports-breakthrough-in-introducing-beta-carotene-in-sorghum-58036-3-58037.html

http://www.commodityonline.com/news/dupont-reports-breakthrough-in-introducing-beta-carotene-in-sorghum-58036-3-58037.html

“Super banana”

Overexpression of endogenous flowering

genes induce early flowering in several tree

speciesApple

Plum

Orange

Poplar

50

Early flowering in eucalypts to speed

breeding and researchIn press, Plant Biotechnology Journal

anthers

stigma

Pollen grains

Outer operculum

inner operculumo

vule

ssty

le

Insect resistant poplars commercially

approved in China - Bt cry1

• Trait stable

• Helps to protect non-

Bt trees

• Reduced insecticide

use

• Improved growth rate

Cry3a beetle

resistant poplars

10-20% productivity

improvement despite

low insect pressure

during large field trial

of resistant genotypes

Wild type

GM

Helping forests: American Chestnut

restoration by genetic modification

March 2014 issue - Scientific American

Other issues to think about

Farmers and consumers have a right to

avoid genes they don’t like

• True

• False

Gene flow: Genetic admixture is ubiquitous

in agriculture and forestry – with or without

GMOs

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47354&Cr=food+security&Cr1=#.UySzoPldVUV

Global admixture of GM and non-GM create

immense coexistence, trade problems under

current regulations and markets

Many costly cases of trade disruption and lawsuits with corn, soy, and rice

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47354&Cr=food+security&Cr1=

Oregon with

major

coexistence

struggles due

to large seed

industry, much

non-GMO

production &

many exports2014 Task Force

Report

No easy answers to coexistence

problems

Regulations, and ultimately markets, need to

evolve to enable workable thresholds for genetic

admixture…

A political as well as market problem

Consumers have a right to know: GMOs

should be labeled

• Agree

• Disagree

Pros vs. cons

• Pros• Right to know

• Tool to track problems

• Ethics (keep animal DNA out of food of vegetarians)

• Many other countries are doing it

• Cons• GMOs are the most intensively regulated/scrutinized

• Labeling law already in place (FDA) for changes that matter

• Organic and GMO-free widely available

• Misleading: Scares/stigmatizes (viewed as warning label)

• Increases cost (estimates vary, but some estimates are high) for all consumers

• Reduces choice (food system cannot infrastructure cannot support GMO and non-GMO options for all foods, companies avoid stigma to their brand label)

Adapted from: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09371.html

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09371.html

“Legally mandating such a label can only serve to mislead and falsely alarm consumers”

AAAS: Position on GMO labeling

On ballot in Oregon last fall – defeated

but barely!

Some ethical perspectives

Billions are malnourished now, crop land

is degrading, and it’s

a very scary future

http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/47/download/isaaa-brief-47-2014.pdf

Pesticide poisoning common in

developing world – eggplant, cotton

examples

BiotechNon-Biotech

Climate change & travel creating urgent

pest problems

- Esophageal cancer

- Neural tube defects, spina bifida

- 155,000-172,000 cases per year

from alflatoxin alone

Child with liver cancer in Mozambique

due to consumption of mycotoxins

Natural toxins, contaminants in food pose

serious problems for millions

- Bt GMO corn above

- Fungal contaminated,

mycotoxin-producing

corn below

Billions suffer from micronutrient deficiencyWidespread, impacts severe, and decades of supplements

unable to overcome

Vitamin A deficiency affects one-third of children under the age of five around the world

Image sources: Petaholmes based on WHO data;

Young women suffering blindness due to Vit A deficiency

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vitamin_A_deficiency.PNGhttp://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/vitamin_a_pub/en/

Is it ethical to discard this

extremely powerful tool given

these humanitarian crises?

Is it right for the food secure to

remove it from use by the

poor, or to force regulations

and market conditions that

effectively remove it?

Nuffield Council

report on

GMOs and the

developing

world

http://nuffieldbioethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/GM-Crops-short-version-FINAL.pdf

http://nuffieldbioethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/GM-Crops-short-version-FINAL.pdf

Nuffield summary messages

• The use of GM crops can have considerable

potential for improving agriculture and the

livelihood of poor farmers in developing

countries

• Assess on a case by case basis

• No blanket acceptance or rejection of GMOs

• There is an ethical obligation to explore the

potential of GM crops

• We intensively modify organisms all the time –

the basis of civilization

• Biotech crops have had huge benefits around

the globe – with much more on the way

• There is much public controversy and

misinformation that clouds and distorts debate

• There are genuine issues of management,

and of ethics

• Are we using the technology where we should?

• Are we using it wisely when we do?

• There is no question that GMOs, used

responsibly, are a very powerful tool

Four summary messages

the how, where and why of genetically engineered...

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