What is Biotechnology

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What is Biotechnology?
Unit 4 Biotechnology Meeting Grand Forks,
ND March 6, 2003
Phil McClean Department of Plant Science North
Dakota State University
2
What is Biotechnology?
How about some definitions
General Definition
The application of technology to improve a
biological organism
Detailed Definition
The application of the technology to modify
the biological function of an organism by
adding genes from another organisms
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What is the Result of Biotechnology?

• An organism showing a novel trait not normally
  found in the species

Extended shelf-life tomato (FlavrSavr Tomato)
Herbicide resistant soybean (Roundup Ready
Soybean)
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Biotechnology Terms You Probably Heard
Transgene the foreign gene added to a species
Ex. modified EPSP synthase gene (encodes a
protein that functions even when plant treated
with Roundup)
Transgenic an organism containing a transgene
introduced by technological (not breeding)
methods
Ex. Roundup Ready Crops
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Biotechnology Develops
GMOs - Genetically modified organisms

• GMO - an organism that expresses traits that
  result
• from the introduction of foreign DNA
• Also called transgenic organism

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Important Terms

• Breeding

• Beneficial gene added from the same species
• Gene delivered by mating within the species

Source USDA

• Transformation

• Beneficial gene added from another species
• Gene delivered by plant genetic engineering

Source USDA
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Lets Be Up Front

• Breeding ? Biotechnology
•  Breeding only exchanges genes found in the
  species
• Breeding can transfer the transgene to other
  breeding materials
•  BUT it is not the same as biotechnology
• Biotechnology adds traits not available in the
  species
•  Soybean does not have a gene to breakdown
  Roundup
• The gene comes from bacteria

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Interspecific Cross
Wheat
Rye
X
Triticale
New species, but NOT biotechnology
products
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Mutagenesis New Trait, No Foreign Gene

• Mutagenesis changes the sequence of a gene
• New, useful traits can be obtained

Mutagenesis Treatment
Susceptible Normal Gene
ATTCGA
Resistant Mutant Gene
ATTGGA
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BASF Clearfield Products
Mutagenesis Crops

• Herbicide resistance
• imidazolinones
• Mutant AHAS enzyme
• developed by mutagenesis
• Crops
• Canola, Corn, Rice, Sunflower, Wheat
• In US
• Not considered GMOs by USDA regulators
• A Major marketing advantage
• When some stacked with GMOs, the advantage lost

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Crop Biotech Market Dominated By Four Countriesa
6 3.2 mha
68 35.7 mha
3 1.5 mha
22 11.8 mha
Total 99 of market
a2001 growing season data.
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Transgenic Crops Increasing In the USa
a Source NASS Planting Reports, 2001,
2002. b2002 US acreage 73 million ND acreage
2.6 million c2002 US acreage 79 million ND
acreage 1.2 million d2002 US acreage 1.6
million ND acreage 1.3 million
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Agriculture Products On the Market
Insect resistant cotton

• Bt toxin kills the cotton boll worm
• toxin gene from a bacteria

Source USDA
Insect resistant corn

• Bt toxin kills the European corn borer
• toxin gene from a bacteria
• Rootworm GM approved (2/26/03)

Normal
Transgenic
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Herbicide resistant crops

• current soybean, corn, canola
• coming sugarbeet, lettuce, strawberry,
• alfalfa, potato, wheat (2005)
• resistance gene from bacteria

Source Monsanto
Virus resistance

• papaya, squash, potato
• resistance gene from a virus

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Roundup Ready Soybean No Yield Drag or
(Advantage) North Dakota 2002 Data
aData collected by Dr. Ted Helms, NDSU b of
varieties in trial in parenthesis
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Roundup Ready Soybean Reduces Expensesa
aData provided by Dr. Duane Burgland, NDSU.
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Crop Biotechnology Grew Worldwide In 2002

• 145 million acres (11 growth)
• 6 million farmers (20 growth)
• 16 countries (up from 13 India, Colombia,
  Honduras)

Historically, the most rapidly adopted new
agricultural technology
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Biotechnology Crops Worldwide Acreage 2002
Soybean 90.2 million acres (10 growth) Corn
30.6 million acres (27 growth) Canola
16.8 million acres (no change)
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Economic Effect of Bt Cotton In China

• 200/acre increase in income

• 750 million increase nationally

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Biotech Crops Can Be Environmentally (and Yield)
Friendly
Table 1. Cotton yield and insecticide results
from a large (157 sites) trial in India during
2001.
Means within a row are significantly different
at the 5 level From Science (2003) 299900
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Bacterial and Animal Biotechnology Products
Biotech chymosin

• enzyme used to curdle milk products
• gene from yeast
• harvested from GE bacteria
• replaces the calf enzyme

Source Chr. Hansen
bST (bovine somatotropin)

• increases milk production
• gene from cow
• protein harvested from GE bacteria
• replaces cow protein originally
• harvested from pituitary glands
• of slaughtered cows

Source Rent Mother Nature
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Next Generation of Ag Biotech Products
Golden Rice

• Increased Vitamin A content
• Transgenes from bacteria and daffidol
• Controversory large amount needed to
• solve problem

Sunflower

• White mold resistance
• Resistance gene from wheat

Source Minnesota Microscopy Society
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Turfgrass

• Herbicide resistance
• Slower growing
• reduced mowing reduced pollution

Bio Steel

• Spider silk strongest known protein
• Protein expressed in goat milk
• Protein used to make soft-body,
• bullet proof vests (Nexia)

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Field Testing Permits Tell Us What is Coming
Field Trial Data Jan 2001 Today (n2540)
2001-03 data collated from Information Systems
for Biotechnology
(http//www.isb.vt.edu/)
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Where Are the GM Crops Tested in the US?
ND 23 230 (3)
IA 4 1,022 (12)
CA 5 990 (12)
IL 2 1,292 (16)
PR 3 1,063 (13)
HA 1 1,437 (17)
Data 1993-present State rank, trials, total
trials Information Systems for Biotechnology
(http//www.isb.vt.edu/)
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Corn is the Current Main Focus
2001-03 data collated from Information Systems
for Biotechnology
(http//www.isb.vt.edu/)
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The Traditional Traits Predominant
2001-03 data collated from Information Systems
for Biotechnology
(http//www.isb.vt.edu/)
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But Some Novel Traits Are Being Tested
2001-03 data collated from Information Systems
for Biotechnology
(http//www.isb.vt.edu/)
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Whats Coming for Wheat??
2001-03 data collated from Information Systems
for Biotechnology
(http//www.isb.vt.edu/)
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Some Ag Biotech Products Are Discontinued
Why???

• Poor Quality
• FlavrSavr tomatoes (Calgene)
• Negative Consumer Response
• Tomato paste (Zeneca)
• Negative Corporate Response
• NewLeaf (Monsanto)
• Universal Negative Publicity
• StarLink corn (Aventis)

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Biotechnology and Health
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What is Biopharming?
Biopharming Definition
Growing transgenic crops that express
pharmaceutical products
Examples
Drugs Antibodies Proteins
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Why use this technology?
Familiar Production Systems

• Genes introduced into field crops (mostly corn)
• New productions systems not needed
• Producer can use traditional growing strategies

Reduced End-Product Cost

• Animal system 1000 - 5000 per gram protein
• Plant System 1 - 10 per gram protein
• 
  
• 
  Source The Roanoke Times, 2000

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Edible Vaccines A Biopharming Dream Biotech
Plants Serving Human Health Needs

• A pathogen protein gene is cloned
• Gene is inserted into the DNA of plant (potato,
  banana, tomato)
• Humans eat the plant
• The body produces antibodies against pathogen
  protein
• Human are immunized against the pathogen
• Examples
• Diarrhea
• Hepatitis B
• Measles

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Future Health-related Biotech Products
Vaccines

• Herpes
• hepatitis C
• AIDS
• malaria

Tooth decay

• Streptococcus mutans, the mouth bacteria
• releases lactic acid that destroys enamel
• engineered Streptococcus mutans
• does not release lactic acid
• destroys the tooth decay strain

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Environmental Applications
Indicator bacteria

• contamination is detected in the environment
• microbes sensitive to certain pollutants

Bioremediation

• cleanup contaminated sites
• uses microbes designed to degrade
• the pollutant

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Recent Crop Biotechnology News
The European Union Moratorium

• A five year EU biotech crop moratorium is in
  place
• Nov 2002 Labeling and traceability regulations
  drafted
• Jan 2003 Some countries looking to go GMO-free
• Feb 2003 Some EU countries want the moratorium
  to continue
• until regulations approved

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EU Labeling Regulations

• Foods with less than 0.9 of GM gene product
• Labeling not required
• Products derived from a GM crop
• Labeling required
• Applies even if the product does not contain the
  GM
• gene product
• Ex Corn syrup does not have the Bt protein,
  but must
• be labeled
• Animal feeds from GM crops
• Same guidelines apply

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EU Traceability Regulations

• GMO containing food must be declared at departure
  point
• List does not have to be modified if part of
  shipment
• is off-loaded in route
• A compromise regulation
• Some wanted documentation from each step of
  the route

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US Response to the EU Regulations

• United States frustrated
• Might sue under WTO policy that prevents
  policies
• that restrict trade
• USDA Secretary Veneman
• The US patience was "growing very thin" and
  "very strong action
• was needed". (Feb 27, 2003)
• US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick
• "We've tried to hold off" filing a WTO case, but
  we're getting
• to the point where our patience is running
  thin." (Mar 3, 2003)

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Different Countries Different Decisions

• Germany (3/3/03)
• Would accept biotech crops once regulations
  approved
• Major decision long considered an opponent
• to biotech crops
• Taiwan (2/27/03)
• Will permit field trails in 2003
• Tasmania (2/28/03)
• Extends biotech crop ban for five years
• Wants to remain a biotech free and
• maintain their niche market

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What Are the Public Concerns?
Economics Are we changing the economics on the
farm? Environmental Are we irreversibly
modifying the environment?   Globalization Is
technology becoming centralized in too few hands?
  Social Will we develop a class of genetic
outcasts? Religious Are we playing God?