Genetically Modified Organisms:

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Genetically Modified Organisms Is the end of the
world approaching? The Pennsylvania Governors
Institute for the Life Sciences Dr. Richard
Grazzini President Exygen Research State College,
PA rick.grazzini_at_exygen.com 814-231-8032
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Why GMOs?

• To increase food production
• Input traits
• herbicide resistance
• pest (insect) resistance
• disease (fungus, virus, bacterium) resistance
• enhanced nutrient utilization
• decreased pesticide utilization
• enhanced ecological suitability (e.g., salinity
  tolerance)
• These are issues important ONLY to farmers

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Why GMOs?

• To develop new crop products markets
• Output traits
• enhanced native composition (components)
• enhanced biochemical yield (amount)
• elimination of antifeedant / toxicant
• addition of unique character / trait
• unique industrial chemical (chiral?)
• modification of native pathway
• pharmaceutical molecule
• Remember, natural sells for a premium

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Input vs. output

• Input traits relate to food production
• --- strong benefit to the farmer
• --- strong benefit to chemical industry
• --- most benefit when vertical integration
• --- potential benefit to consumer (modest)
• Output traits turn plants into factories
• --- strong benefit to chemical industry
• --- strong benefit to production agriculture
• --- potential benefit to consumer (major)

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GMO backlash!

Negative European reaction to GMOs
Why do you think this occurred?
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Why a EU backlash to GMOs?

• Cultural and societal differences vs US
• Higher food prices, higher expectations
• Smaller, more local/regional food stores
• Daily food shopping
• Lower average income
• Food represents higher percentage income
• Higher population density
• Higher percentage living in urban areas
• Fewer people involved in agriculture

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RoundUp Ready soybeans

• Developed by Monsanto, licensed to other plant
  breeding companies
• Resistant to herbicide glyphosate (RoundUp),
  which was proprietary to Monsanto at the time

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RoundUp Ready soybeans

• PRO
• extremely effective weed control
• reduced energy input costs (fuel)
• glyphosate cost much less than competing soybean
  herbicides
• rapidly accepted by farmers

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RoundUp Ready soybeans

• CON (hard facts)
• evolution of resistant weeds
• depressed yields with RUR soybeans yield
  drag variety development AND early weed
  competition
• market domination by RU suppressed development of
  new herbicides
• intellectual property (IP) protection
  --- Monsanto controls the seed
  --- farmer must buy seed every year --- from
  Monsanto or licensee

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RoundUp Ready soybeans

• CON (soft facts)
• antibiotic resistance linkage to GMOs
• allergenicity potential
• negative ecological impact fewer weeds,
  fewer herbivores
• precautionary principle

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Precautionary principle

• When an activity raises threats of harm to human
  health or the environment, precautionary measures
  should be taken even if some cause and effect
  relationships are not fully established
  scientifically. In this context, the proponent
  of an activity, rather than the public, should
  bear the burden of proof
• Wingspread statement
• January, 1998

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Precautionary principle

• Current US government regulations
• safe proven not to be toxic
• minimal risk
• Under the precautionary principle
• safe proven never to be toxic
• zero risk
• These are very different definitions!

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YieldGard maize

• Incorporation of toxin gene from insect parasite
  (Bacillus thuringensis, or Bt)
• Bt toxin has ZERO effect on mammalian physiology.
  Bt only effects insects, and primarily
  lepidopteran insects.
• GMO YieldGard plants resist insect feeding
• --- leaves and shoots
• --- ears
• --- roots

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YieldGard maize

• PRO
• extremely effective pest control
• reduced energy input costs (fuel)
• reduced seed cost (fewer seeds / acre)
• dramatically reduced OP pesticide use
• better for the environment
• safer for the farmer
• improved yields, improved quality
• rapidly accepted by farmers

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YieldGard maize

• CON (hard facts)
• evolution of Bt-resistant pests
• decreased effectiveness of applied Bt in
  sustainable / organic agriculture
• suppression of new insecticide development
• IP protection issues

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YieldGard maize

• CON (soft facts)
• antibiotic resistance linkage to GMOs
• allergenicity potential
• negative ecological impact Monarch
  butterfly and GMO pollen
• precautionary principle

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GMO salmon

• Incorporation of fish growth hormone gene into
  Atlantic salmon
• Fish are relatively easy to work with as an
  experimental organism
• Strong market for salmon flesh
• Salmon farming can replace coastal fisheries, and
  provide jobs to unemployed fishermen

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GMO salmon

• PRO
• fish grow faster (gt2X)
• fish grow bigger (gt2X)
• improved yields, improved quality
• lower salmon costs to consumer

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GMO salmon

• CON (hard facts)
• salmon farming generates a lot of waste dumped
  directly into the ocean
• if GMO salmon are fertile (and diploid GMO salmon
  are fertile), then potential to cross with wild
  stocks
• but induced sterility is possible (triploidy)
• feral (wild) GMO salmon (escapes) could
  dominate native populations, and these
  populations are already under pressure re
  harvesting

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GMO salmon

• CON (soft facts)
• growth hormone --- dangerous?
• sterile triploids are un-natural
• triploid escapes might somehow become fertile
  and then cross-breed with wild populations
• precautionary principle

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Pharm-ing

• Use of agricultural crop or animal to produce
  therapeutic substance for human health (drug)
• Pharm-ing produces pharma-ceuticals
• Possible in many plants (corn, rice, soy, canola,
  tobacco, potato, banana )
• Possible in mammals (cows, goats, pigs)
• Potential in fowl (think of the egg)

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Pharm-ing

• PRO
• relatively cheap production
• imagine creating a banana which
• ease of dosing and patient acceptance
• ease of production, storage, and distribution
• biological systems can have synthetic advantages
  (chirality, stereospecificity, etc.)
• --- think paclitaxel (Taxol)

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Pharm-ing

• CON (hard facts)
• its never been done before (the precautionary
  principle has great relevance in this example)
• overdose potential
• allergenicity potential
• agronomic chemicals are not currently registered
  for use in drug production

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Pharm-ing

• CON (soft facts)
• escape of vaccine genes into the wild
• escape of drugs into food supply
• development of resistance because population
  consumes drug in food

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Developing countries

• versus Developed Countries
• Food supply is limiting
• Food distribution systems are limiting
• Economy imposes financial limits on
  infrastructure development (roads)
• Commerce with Developed Countries are a critical
  component for future economic development

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Developing countries

• GMO papaya
• Developed by USDA-Hawaii to be virus-resistant
  (over-expression coat protein)
• Continued papaya production now possible in
  Hawaii and in much of tropical Africa, Asia and
  South America
• Significant export market

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Developing countries

• GMO cassava
• Developed in Africa to be virus-resistant
• Cassava is critical carbohydrate source
• Continued cassava production now possible in much
  of Africa

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Developing countries

• GMO sweet potato
• Developed in Asia to be virus-resistant
• Sweet potato (white) is critical carbohydrate
  source in parts of Asia
• Development of virus-resistant GMO sweet potato
  enables continued production

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Can we please eat first?

• Judith Wambugu
• You people in the developed world are certainly
  free to debate the merits of genetically modified
  foods, but can we please eat first?
• J Wambugu, Kenyan plant breeder,
• in a 2003 interview with Joe Schwarz, McGill
  University
• www.oss.mcgill.ca/biotech/africa.pdf
• Quoted by Dr. Nina Federoff, Science 303
  (5665)1765-69
• 19-Mar-2004, P. Grun, T. Ramsay N. Federoff

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Experimental GMO crops, 2004

• These experimental GMOs are being tested.
  Information from 2004 USDA database
• Transgenic enhancements
• Pest resistance 40 input
• Herbicide resistance 42 input
• Fertility control 11 input
• Nutritional composition 3 output
• Quality 21 output ???
• --- 14 slow-ripening tomatoes
• --- 2 slow-ripening cantaloupes
• --- 5 modified phytate availability (canola)

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Other examples

• GMO VR tobacco in China, 1992 1995
• GMO rice golden rice
• GMO tomatoes slow-ripening, FlavrSavr
• GMO IR cotton Bt vs bollworm
• GMO potatoes potato beetle, viruses
• GMO sugar beet
• GMO canola
• GMO radicchio ?
• GMO cantaloupe ?
• GMO flax ?

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GMOs and food--- difficult confusing

• Science is mostly pro-GMO
• Production agriculture is strongly pro-GMO
• Environmentalists are mostly anti-GMO
• Blurry distinction between anti-GMO and
  anti-global corporation (i.e., Monsanto)
• Politics tends to confuse the issue
• Developing vs developed countries
• Food production distribution
• Intellectual property rights
• Precautionary principle

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• What do you think about GMOs?

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What do you think about GMOs?

• These products either contain or used GMOs in
  their production
• Foods containing US-produced crops
• any food product containing soybeans
• most food products containing canola
• cosmetics (emollients, short fatty acids)
• most commercial sweet corn
• many products containing yellow field corn

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What do you think about GMOs?

• These products either contain or used GMOs in
  their production
• Industrial enzymes from bacteria or fungi
• yogurt
• cheese
• bread
• beer
• stain-removing detergents
• paper (manufacturing)

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What do you think about GMOs?

• Industrial enzymes in broad commercial use
• Enzyme Name GE Organism Use (examples)
• alpha-acetolactate bacteria removes bitter
  substances from beer
• decarboxylase
• alpha-amylase bacteria converts starch to
  simple sugars
• catalase fungi reduces food deterioration,
• particularly egg-based products
• cellulase bacteria or fungi rejuvenates
  fabric during laundry
• chymosin bacteria or fungi clots milk protein
  to make cheese
• cyclodextrin-glucosyl bacteria   starch/sugar
  modification
• transferase
• beta-glucanase bacteria   improves beer
  filtration
• glucose isomerase bacteria   converts glucose
  to fructose
• glucose oxidase fungi   reduces food
  deterioration,
• particularly egg-based products
• lipase fungi   oil and fat modification
• maltogenic amylase bacteria   slows staling of
  breads
• pectinesterase fungi   improves fruit juice
  clarity
• protease bacteria   improves bread dough
  structure

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What do you think about GMOs?

• These products either contain or used GMOs in
  their production
• Biopharmaceuticals
• many new therapeutic drugs
• insulin and other human hormones
• anticoagulants (blood thinners)
• cutting edge anti-cancer therapies
• latest generation antibiotics

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What do you think about GMOs?

• Excellent resource re GMO education
• www.geo-pie.cornell.edu/educators/educators.html
• Multiple fact sheets on GE foods in the market
• Some discussion re industrial enzymes
• --- google Novozymes, Diversa and/or
  Maxygen
• Only a mention re biopharmaceuticals
• --- google Amgen, Genentech and/or Biogen

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Rick Grazzini 814-231-8032 rick.grazzini_at_exygen.co
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