The Axis of Evil and Maize Oil Dr. Melanie DeVore Professor

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The Axis of Evil and Maize Oil

• Dr. Melanie DeVore
• Professor, Georgia College State University
• Milledgeville, GA

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Crop and Variety Loss

• 75 of all crop and vegetable varieties have been
  lost over the last century.
• 2 of our crop and vegetable varieties are lost
  every year.
• What does this have to do with Intellectual
  Property Rights (IPRs)
• Is Dupont the world-wide leader in biopiracy of
  plant genetic resources?

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IPRs

• IPRs now include forms of life
• Private companies and research institutes are
  EVIL because they can patent and own life forms
  and genes
• Developing countries see these Evil Doers as
  the thieves who steal genetic resources
• This theft is termed BIOPIRACY

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Straight from the mouth of the International
Undertaking

• Loss of agricultural biodiversity and the private
  ownership and control of plant genetic resources
  have been given new impetus by the advent of
  genetic engineering.
• The genetic engineering of plants is currently a
  private science being developed and controlled by
  profit-making multinational companies which also
  own the handful of seed companies that control
  most of the worlds commercial seed varieties.

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Who makes up the axis of evil?

• DuPont
• Monsanto
• Syngenta
• They buy the monster sized international seed
  companies and control commercial seed varieties

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How the Evil Doers Operate

• Seed and food patentability is the tool used to
  manipulate the world
• Seeds and plants get changed and companies claim
  plant varieties, seeds and harvests as
  intellectual property
• Plant genetic resources are no longer public
  domain and become private property

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What happens next?

• Only plants of grand commercial interest are bred
• Varieties get lost or are held captive in seed
  banks of companies
• Small farmers are denied breeding material (seeds)

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How this works

• Dupont bought the worlds largest seed company
  (Pioneer Hi-Bred in 1999)
• Pioneer filed 150 patent applications at the
  European Patent Office
• These are classified as World Patent
  Applications and are filed in USA, Japan, and
  other nations simultaneously.

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DuPont Invents Maize

• Once upon a time (August, 2000) the European
  Patent Office took an application from DuPont
  which covered all maize plants containing more
  than a particular amount of oil and oleic acid.
• EP 744 888

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What the patent would cover

• Claims ANY variety of maize with/or above that
  designated oil content
• Claims made covering the planting, cultivation,
  harvesting and processing for FOOD, ANIMAL FEED
  or INDUSTRIAL use

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How DuPont and Pioneer Operate

• Insert a gene and make a claim
• Culture plant material using tissue culture and
  claim all resources with the given characteristic
• Change a breeding process
• Isolate a gene and claim the sequence as an
  invention

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WHAT IS THE BASIS FOR THIS CLAIM

• Patent is based on an invention
• This invention relates to corn grain having a
  significantly higher oleic acid content acid
  content by virtue of heritable genes for
  increased oil and oleic acid content and to the
  production of high oil high oleic grain, plants
  and plant parts grown from such grain and uses of
  such improved grain

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Two Questions

• Based on what you have read and what we have
  discussed on class think about this
• 1) Could you produce the claimed corn
  varieties naturally?
• 2) How would people in Mexico and South America
  feel about the situation?
• The International Maize and Wheat Improvement
  Center is located in MEXICO

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GMOs Genetically Modified Organisms
Broadly defined any microbe, plant, or animal
developed through breeding and
selection Narrowly defined organisms produced
by gene transfer techniques
Current examples of GMO Crops

• insect-resistant crops
• cotton
• potato
• corn

• herbicide-resistant crops
• soybean
• corn
• canola (rapeseed)
• many others

GMO Crops on the Horizon
Corn, soy, canola with improved
nutritional qualities for animal
feed Crops with specialty starches and oils for
industrial processes
Nutraceuticals Golden Rice Vaccines in
plants Improved yields and stress tolerance
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PLANT GENETIC ENGINEERING

• Product Concepts and Technical Feasibility
• Building the Transgenes
• Plant Transformation
• Event Selection
• Plant Breeding
• Seed Production and Marketing
• Detection of GMO Crops in the Commodity Chain

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Product Concepts and Technical Feasibility

• Market potential for GMO Crop
• alternatives for production inputs
• enhanced storage stability
• improved nutritional or processing qualities

• Can the desired traits be engineered?
• How many genes must be introduced?
• Where must gene be expressed?
• appropriate organs, tissues, developmental stage
• localization within the cell
• Are genes and expression elements available to
  
• modify trait?
• Will there be interactions with other genes?

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Building the Transgenes
ON/OFF Switch
Makes Protein
stop sign
Plant Transgene
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Plant Transformation
The introduction and expression of genes into
plants is a three step process
DNA Delivery to Target Cells
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Plant Transformation DNA Delivery
microprojectile bombardment biolistics or gene
gun
tiny DNA-coated particles are shot into plant
cells versatile method complex DNA integration
patterns tandem arrays of fragmented molecules
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Plant Transformation Target Cells
All Crop Transformation Protocols Deliver
DNA to Plant Cells in Tissue Culture
Tissue cultures allow regeneration of fertile
plants from single cells Large number of target
cells available for DNA delivery in a compact
form (callus) Establishment, maintenance and
plant regeneration is labor intensive Methods
limited to a few genotypes, usually not
commercial varieties Can introduce undesirable
mutations
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Plant Transformation Selection

• At best only 1 in 1000 cells integrate delivered
  DNA
• Transformed cells (events) are marked by
  co-introducing gene that provides resistance to
  selective agents
• Transformed cells are selected by killing
  non-transformed cells with selective agent.
• Three main types of selective agents
• antibiotics
• herbicides
• plant growth regulators
• Selectable markers assist in following
  inheritance of transgenes.

tissue culture cells under selection
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Event Selection

• Goal Identify transgenic lines that stably
  exhibit
• desired phenotype
• Typically only 1 in 100 events are commercialized
• Transgene expression varies with chromosome
  position
• Complex transgene insertions are generally
  unstable
• gene silencing
• recombination within integrated transgene DNA
• Transgene cannot have negative effects on other
  plant
• phenotypes
• Transgenic line must satisfy regulatory
  requirements
• USDA, EPA, and FDA each review product
• no novel toxic or allergenic proteins or
  metabolites

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THE MAKING OF A GMO CROP VARIETY
Backcrossing and selection (6- 8 generations)
x
x
x
Transgenic line
Commercial variety
Commercial Transgenic Line
Biotechnology
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Seed Production
Target of 0.5 of U.S. Corn or Soybean Market
80 million acres x 0.005 400,000 acres Corn
(Cross-Pollinated Hybrids) Planted at 30,000
plants/acre 12 billion hybrid seed Need 300
million seed of each inbred parent Requires two
field seasons to generate enough seed, one season
to produce hybrid seed Soybean (Self-Pollinated
Varieties) require 3 seasons to generate enough
seed Maintaining Quality Control is a
Challenge!!!
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GMOs Why the Controversy?
Genetic engineering is a powerful new technology
that is in general poorly understood and whose
long term effects are unknown. GMOs are an
innovation that have and will continue to impact
all facets of the global agricultural economy.
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Production
Processing
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Commodity Handling
Consumer Products
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GMO Crops Three Major Issues
1. Food safety and environmental impacts 2.
Global trade 3. Increased corporate control of
agriculture
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GMOs and Food Safety

• Genetic engineering creates novel genetic
  combinations
• Potential exists for undesirable effects of
  allergenicity or toxicity
• All GMOs are tested extensively for food safety
  prior to sale
• foods for human consumption and animal feed
• agricultural products (meat, dairy, fresh
  produce)

To Label or Not to Label? Labels must give
accurate information on product
composition Identity preservation methods,
tolerances, costs
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GMOs and Environmental Impacts

• Genetic engineering creates novel genetic
  combinations
• All GMOs are tested for potential environmental
  impacts prior to sale
• influence on soil and water composition
• insect resistance management
• gene/trait transfer to weedy relatives
• interactions with agricultural environment

• GMO Crops Have Many Significant Environmental
  Benefits
• Reduced chemical pesticide and herbicide use
• More sustainable pest management
• Better erosion control through no-till practices
• Increased efficiency of production / unit fossil
  fuel energy expended

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GMOs and Global Trade

• GM Commodity Crops Highlight Differences in
  Culture and Economic Systems
• Education level and awareness of agriculture and
  biotechnology
• Feelings toward food and agriculture as a way of
  life
• Governmental policies on the regulation of GM
  crops imports, sales
• Agricultural economies