Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues

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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
Public Perceptions and Concerns About
Biotechnology
APS, Salt Lake City, 26 August 2001
Dr. Terri L. Lomax Professor of Botany and Plant
Pathology Director, Program for the Analysis of
Biotechnology Issues Oregon State University
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Most Rapid Acceptance of any Agricultural
Technology since the Tractor
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Biotech Issue How have the products released
impacted the grower?
Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
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Biotech Issue How have the products released
impacted the grower?
Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues

• Introduction of BollGard cotton resulted in
• Decreased Insecticide Use 2.7 million lbs
• 15 million applications
• Increased Production 260 million lbs
• Overall net benefit to cotton producers 99
  million
• Bt Cotton Aggregate Impacts 1999 - NCFAP

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Biotech Issue How have the products released
impacted the grower?
Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues

• The impact of Bt potato has not been as
  dramatic.

U.S. Acreage Planted to Genetically Engineered
Potatoes

• This is due to the
• refusal of major
• producers to buy
• GE potatoes

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Rapid Adoption of Biotechnology
Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues

• 25 of corn, and 60 of soybean and cotton
  acreage planted in the U.S. is GE
• 70 of all processed foods on U.S. store shelves
  contain components from GM organisms
• All aspartame (Nutrasweet) is from GM bacteria
• Essentially all insulin is GE ( many other
  pharmaceuticals)

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Ordinary tomatoes do not contain genes.
Genetically modified ones do.True or False ?
Survey published in Seed Trade News, December,
1999. Survey source Thomas J. Hoban, North
Carolina State University
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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
Biotech Issue Will the public accept
genetically-engineered foods?
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Risks and Concerns

• Is eating food from transgenic crops a health
  hazard?
• Can antibiotic resistance genes used as markers
  in transgenic crops be transferred to pathogenic
  bacteria?
• Does pollen from transgenic crops contaminate
  non-transgenic crop varieties?
• Will herbicide-resistant GMO crops create
  superweeds?
• Do transgenic crops reduce biodiversity?
• Will insect pests become resistant to Bt toxins?
• Will the widespread adoption of transgenic crops
  lead to increased corporate control of the
  worlds food supply?

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Key Questions about GMOs

• Why do we need GMOs?
• Who will benefit?
• Who decided to develop and how?
• Why werent we better informed?
• Why arent we given choice?
• Have potential long-term and irreversible
  consequences
• been seriously evaluated?
• Do regulatory agencies have sufficient power?
• Who will be accountable in cases of unforeseen
  harm?

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Over the past few months, what if anything have
you been avoiding or eating less of?
Percent response to open-ended question
(Hoban, 2000)
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What, if anything, are you most concerned about
when it comes to food safety?
Percent response to open-ended question
(Hoban, 2000)
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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
Consumer acceptance varies for different types of
applications and between countries
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American Consumers Acceptance of Biotechnology
Percent acceptance that application should be
encouraged
Priest, 2000
Hoban and Miller, 1998
(Hoban, 2000)
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Europeans Consumers Acceptance of Biotechnology
Percent who felt that application should be
encouraged
1999
1996
Human Genetic Screening
New Human Medicines
Insect- Protected Crops
Improved Foods
(Hoban, 2000)
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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
Confidence and trust are key influences on
consumer acceptance
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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
Confidence and trust are key influences on
consumer acceptance
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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
Confidence and trust are key influences on
consumer acceptance
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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
The Regulatory Process for Transgenic Crops in
the US Transgenic crops are regulated
at every stage of development, from
research planning through field testing, food and
environmental safety evaluations, and
international marketing. The major
regulators of transgenic crops are
Institutional Biosafety
Comm./Variety Release Comm.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) of USDA
Food and Drug Administration
(FDA)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
State regulations (ODA)
WTO International
agreements
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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
US Consumers did NOT change their attitudes or
behavior in response to the Starlink controversy
NORTHFIELD, IL, September 22, 2000 - Kraft Foods
is voluntarily recalling all Taco Bell Home
Originals taco shell products sold nationwide
only in supermarkets and other retail grocery
outlets. Tests performed by an expert
independent laboratory have indicated the
presence in certain samples of a variety of corn
Kraft had not specified for the product and which
has not been approved for use in food.
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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
Biotech Issue Labeling
Here today, gone tomorrow. Tomato paste
containing GMO tomatoes is no longer available
because the EU has not approved it for official
sale. When GMO tomato paste was on the market,
however, some retailers in England found that the
majority of shoppers bought it because they got
more for their money. November 1, 2000
Volume 34 , pp. 472 A 476 A
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Can you think of any information not
currently Include on food labels that you would
like to see?
Percent response to open-ended question
(Hoban, 2000)
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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
Biotech Issue Labeling Preferences
(synthesis of focus groups, Hoban, 2000)

• People are already overwhelmed by information
  and choice
• (lack of time)
• Most important information wanted involves
  nutrition
• Most agree only need to label if product really
  changed
• (current FDA policy)
• More desire for labels on whole produce items
  rather than
• processed foods or meat
• Unwilling to pay for labels (let companies pay)
• Voluntary labeling on Non-GM foods will allow
  concerned
• consumers choice (organic niche)

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The public accepts biotechnology in medicine
because it sees a clear benefit saving lives.
But about all crop biotechnology can do for now
is make plants that are easier and cheaper for
farmers to grow. While thats great for farmers
its hardly an appeal to middle class consumers,
particularly when they are being cautioned by
opponents that the foods safety hasnt been
approved.- Robert Shapiro, president of
Monsanto
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Potential Benefits of GMOs

• Medicines from plants
• Pest protection
• Fungal and bacterial resistance, viral
  resistance, and insect resistance
• Environmental protection
• Wastes to ethanol, bioremediation
• Food and Processing Quality
• Animal Biotechnology
• Improved diagnostics, vaccines, pharmaceuticals
• Non-Food Applications
• Ornamental plants, biodegradable plastics

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Hypoallergenic rice

• Rice has been genetically engineered by Chinese
  scientists to remove the major allergen causing
  food allergies.
• Once the major allergens are identified in other
  crops, such as wheat and peanuts, these can be
  engineered to remove allergens

(National Geographic)
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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
Biotech Issue Challenges of Introducing
Biotechnology into Society

• Any new technology takes time for acceptance
• (e.g. Pasteurization, microwaves)
• Food is an emotional and personal area
• (more controversial than medicine)
• Limited public understanding of science and
  agriculture
• Well-organized and funded protest groups are not
  going to let up on a successful cause
• Sensationalized media coverage raises fears and
  sets public agenda
• Biotechnology raises complex ethical and social
  issues which need attention

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Program for the Analysis of Biotechnology Issues
What does the Future Hold?
Although agricultural genetic manipulations will
inevitably be regulated by governments, the ease
of suggesting and making desired manipulations
should ensure that, by the middle of this
century, most of the plants in any cultivated
landscape will carry genetic alternations guided
by genomic research.
Roger Brent (2000) Genomic Biology. Cell 100
169-183