GM Crops, Salvation or Threat?

If we miss the rise of the GM products, we’re going to be degraded to role of second-class importers…

...says Profesor Jaroslav Drobník of the Charles University in his Gate2Biotech interview

Whereas the developed European countries are taking quite hesitative approach when it comes to the introduction of GM agricultural plants, the rest of the world tolerates them as the economically preferable option. Can the European reserved stance last any longer? According to an expert in the GMO field, Professor Drobník, the genetic revolution in agriculture is an inevitable event, and the sooner the European farmers and above all the consumers understand, the better.

The opponents of the GMO are, on the other hand, afraid of a large-scale effects not only on the biological diversity, but also on the agricultural sector, threatened by losing its markets. A very loud words of disagreement are heard especially from the eco-farmers, who are willing to sacrifice higher yields for not having to use chemical protective agents, and are afraid of both genetic contamination of own production, as well as economical liquidation. As the Gate2Biotech portal has found out, this problematic is still more and more up-to-date also in the Czech Republic, where many farmers start planting the GMO. Their effort is motivated mainly by the craving of higher yields, better-quality grain and also savings financial means otherwise spent on the chemical protective agents.

The only allowed GM plant in Czech Republic is the Bt corn, planted on approx. 5000 hectares, that makes up for 1.79 % of total corn-planted area. There are some attempts to introduce genetically modified potatoes that are guaranteed not to turn sweet upon being exposed to frost.

Mister Professor, the stance of European countries towards the GMO is rather becoming more restrictive - Germany even forbade sowing any more corn MON 810. Considering this, how should the GMO planting in Czech Republic continue in the future?

The decision about sowing or not sowing the Bt corn should not be made with regard to the other states, but with regard to the pest. If the corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) spreads in the same way as in the recent time, there are only two options: sprinkling with chemical insecticide with the nature being gravely affected, or using the Bt corn. The third option, i.e. doing nothing and accepting the losses, is unacceptable, for it will result in heavy contamination of the crops by carcinogenic mycotoxins.

Another issue is the continual spreading of another pest, the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera). This one causes only great losses to the farmers, but not the crops contamination. The "classic" protection is reaping the insecticide into the soil. It is a matter of risk evaluation, whether to use another Bt corn variety or the chemistry.

The politicians also object to the GM potatoes. The EU Agriculture Ministers Council recently expressed its disapproval with planting the Ampflora potato line. What do you expect in regard to the future development in the approval procedures, and what would that mean for the future of planting GM potatoes in Czech Republic.

Please, look at the approval processes in the Agriculture Council with reasonable and realist's eyes. The Ministers are not scientists, and during the voting, they are not motivated by the real scientific reasons including damage or threat to nature, but by the mood of their voters. If the voters are against GMO, the Minister will always raise his or her hand against the GMO, no matter that he or she would know that the risk is equal or lower than in the case of normal plant, because he or she knows that he would lose his position in voters' eyes if behaving otherwise.

It is expected that the Commission will approve the Amflora's use despite the Ministers' vote. The use of new potatoes is important not only for their planting, but also for the social conditions in the rural areas. The use of these potatoes for starch production would partially reduce the problems caused by the drop-out of sugar refineries. The decisive factor would not be the willingness or reluctance of our farmers, but the starch quotes stated by Brussels.

The critics of the Amflora GM potatoes speak e.g. about usage of selection markers that could lead to resistance to certain antibiotics. Can you disprove these claims and fears?

This objections belong to the group of cheap propaganda already disproved not by me, but by the experts in question - see the EFSA statement at

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/science/gmo/statements0/npt2.html a http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/...)

Even if we did not listened to the board of scientists, every microbiologist knows that the gene transfer from plant to bacteria was not proved by anyone so far, whereas the bacteria-bacteria gene transfer is quite common and even in one gram of soil, there are hundreds of thousands of bacteria resistant to canamycin, neomycin and similar aminoglycosidic antibiotics. So, being afraid of the gene of antibiotics resistance transferred from potato to pathogenic bacteria hold about the same factual reasoning as fearing Spain being eliminated from the orange market by the Eskimos.

According to your words, the transgenic line of potatoes for industry needs could again raise the area of fields where this crops is planted. What are the possible uses for the GM potatoes? Is the food industry considered?

The starch from a normal potato consists about three quarters of amylopectine (a branched glucose polymer) and one quarter of amylose (linear polymer). Amflora has a pure amylopectine starch. This starch is an ideal resource for paper and textile industry, for glue production and also in the building industry. Another type of transgenic potato has, on the other hand, a pure amylose starch. Aside from being used for the production of biodegradable plastics, this kind of starch is used in the food industry, fried food coated by this starch is less soaked by the fat and the pastry is crispier.

A potato resistant to the mold that cause the great famine in half of the 1800s in Europe, as well as the great emigration (particularly from Ireland) is, of course, intended to be used by the food industry.

Do the Czech experts cooperate with the BASF company in the development of other GM plants?

We cooperate with the BASF only on the base of field tests so far. Maybe in the future, hybrids of our and their potatoes will be developed.

The European public opinion adopts a negative stance to the introduction of GM plants. Is the planting of GM plants really so profitable that the European agriculture cannot afford not using them?

The European people were brainwashed and manipulated by long years of propaganda into a state that the former Committee member David Byrne named "GMO psychosis". It is very vividly illustrated by the Eurobarometer 2006, that states that in the year 2005, 41% of Europeans considered the statement that "A common tomato contains no genes, the modified does" to be true, and 54% thinks that "If we eat a modified fruit, our genes will be also modified". If the politicians follow these nonsensical whims populistically, it will take a short time before we start to import the GM potatoes e.g from China.

There are numerous studies that prove the economical advantages brought by using GM plants. The benefit, however, comes only from their planting. If we are going to import them, Europe is to give up the benefits. Again, this sentence voices not only my own opinion, but also an opinion of the "competent ones". When the Commissary Mandelson spoke about this problematic on June 14^th this year, he said: "We have to get rid of the illusion that we are dong a good service to Europe by keeping it outside the global market, that is developing fast in the field of GM food. The others - USA and Japan, but also some new economics - are going forth, and we have to play a leading role in Europe in a sector that is going to play an important role in the future economics. An important document with the same conclusion was issued by the European Parliament's Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as the English Regulatory Authority and the European Association of Bioindustries.

The ecological benefits of GM plants are quite apparent. Respectable sources, e.g. the USA Department of Agriculture (http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aer810/aer810fm.pdf) and National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (http://www.ncfap.org/whatwedo/pdf/2004ExecSummaryA.pdf) are reporting the overall decrease in using pesticides (including insecticides spared by using Bt plants) caused by the increase of planting biotechnologically bred plants by 28 000 tons in the year 2004. This is related among others to the fact that the ecology of European agricultural conditions are changing - the great increase of corn (a plant that was brought here from the South America) field area caused the overpopulation of corn borer. In 1992, a new kind of pest was brought to the Belgrade airport from South America - the western corn rootworm - and it is spreading rapidly. These new factors are not regulable and vanquishable by the "classic and traditional" approaches.

There's no doubt that the pressure on alternative fuel and resources for the chemical industry, as well as the introduction of t he so-called energetic plants will open an entirely new chapter of the GM plants. Those who miss the rise will be degraded to the role of second-class importers. The time when Europe has a huge excess of food resources, not knowing what to do with them, is long gone. The demand is rising in China and India as well, and again it comes to the same - the late-comer is a loser. Summarized: the agricultural biotechnology is a new technology in the same sense as e.g. informatics. Who does not master it, becomes a vegetating outdated museum of "traditional" techniques.

Team Gate2Biotech

Related Article

Potato follows

Czech farmers have been growing for three years transgenic corn - Bt corn resistant to corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis. They are pleased with it, so that area under this crop is growing. Now comes the time to test typical Czech crop - potato. Potato breeding has long tradition here and its uses are flexible. Potato is used as food, feed and industrial crop. Alcohol distillery from potatoes could be found in many Czech villages in the last century. Recently the spectrum of industrial uses is much broader. This is advantageous in situation when non-food agriculture is expanding in Europe.

Therefore the genetic modification is focused to several targets. Between October 1992 and May 2006 256 field trials with transgenic potato were realised in Europe, most of them in Germany (66) and The Netherlands (58). Just 4 trials were registered by EU in Czech Republic. Transgenic potato with low content of reducing sugars has been developed by Czech breeders. The modification consists of introduction the gene from Lactobacillus bulgaricus coding for phosphofructo kinase. This line has been tested in field trials from the year 2001. It provides chips that preserve light colour without sulphur dioxide as antioxidant, generates less acrylamide and also does not turn sweet upon storage at low temperature.

The Research Institute of Crop Production started in cooperation with company BASF the testing of a transgenic potato line resistant to Phytophthora infestans. This mildew had serious impact on European history. It caused historical famine in Europe in 1845 with about 800 thousands of death toll. Even now the late blight at cold and rainy season can reduce the harvest by 50%.

The modification uses two transgenes Rpi-blb1 and Rpi-blb2 originating in wild potato Solanum bulbocastanum from Mexico. This relative to Solanum tuberosum is stably resistant to blight but could not be sexually crossed with potatoes. Somatic hybridisation was also performed but transgenosis is more exact and safe. The risk of the co-transfer of unwanted genes does not exist and proven modern potato lines can be used as recipient of transgenes.

The selection marker used in potato resistant to blight provides the insensitivity to the herbicide Imazamox. The tolerance of the herbicide follows from the expression of the gene ahas from common plant Arabidopsis thaliana coding for the enzyme acetohydroxy acid synthetase. The gene is driven by the nopalin synthase gene promoter and stopped by corresponding terminator from Agrobacterium. Identical system is used in the class of non-transgenic CLEARFIELD crops commonly used for corn, canola and rice. The nature of transgenes is important for the introduction of this potato line in the praxis. It is well known that in Europe the public perception represents most serious bottleneck for the development of biotechnology in the agriculture. Certain opponents try successfully to induce public fear from transgenosis by stressing the "unnatural" genes in our food and fabricating fantasies about the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. Neither of this can be used in the case of potato lines resistant to late blight disease. It should be also welcomed form the point of environment protection as it will reduce the use of chemical fungicides that is rather heavy particularly in seasons favourable for the mildew.

Another line of transgenic potato is designed for industrial use as a source of starch. This polymer composed from glucose unit similar to cellulose has many useful applications. It belongs to the class of renewable sources and resulting materials are bidegradable. The disadvantage of common potato varieties consists in complex nature of their starch: it is the mixture of two polymers of quite different properties - linear polymer amylose (~ 25%) and branched polymer amylopectin (~ 75%). The former causes gelling, the latter thickening.

Therefore PROAGRO in cooperation with the company BASF is going to start field testing of the potato line Amflora. The genetic modification consists from the reversion of part of the potato gene gbss attached to the starch granules and coding for the enzyme GBSS executing the synthesis of starch. The reverse section is 1944 base pairs long and follows the promotor. This results in suppression of the amylose formation and stimulation of amylopectin production as compensation. Thus no foreign gene is involved in the modification. The gene coding for aminoglykosid 3'-fosfotransferáze is used for selection. It induces the tolerance to kanamycine and neomycine, antibiotics that are not used in medicine and importantly this gene is very common in the nature. The safety for human health was verified by many authorities (FDA, VIB, EFSA).

Pure amylopectin starch is used in textile, paper and adhesive industries.

Starch with practically pure amylose can be obtained if the enzyme inducing branching of the polyglucose chain is depressed. In analogy to the previous modification such depression is achieved by the reversion of part of the gene coding for the starch branching enzyme SBE. Therefore the inverted repeat fragments of the bel and be2 genes are inserted.

Pure amylose starch is favourable base material for biodegradable polymers that are also edible. It is therefore used in food industry as well. Frying food coated by amylose starch prevents surplus oil soaking. Rolls with added amylose starch are more crispy.

Transgenic potatoes are safe to the environment and do not interfere with the interests of organic farmers. Tubers not seeds are used for reproduction and cannot be "contaminated" by pollen transfer. Potato is a "foreigner" in Europe like corn, therefore there are no relatives crossing with it. In addition it is a self-pollinating plant. Therefore horizontal transfer of genes by pollen is not important. Therefore the isolation distance 10 to 20 meters is considered sufficient.

It is expected that introduction of transgenic lines of potato for industrial use will increase the area of potato planting in Czech Republic that declined since the World War II from 647 (1951-55) to 114 (1991) and finally to 70 thousands ha due mostly to the ceasing of ethanol production from potato and to reduced export.

Prof. Jaroslav Drobník , Team Gate2Biotech