Genetically-Engineered Foods: Why They Can Be Scary

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Genetically-Engineered Foods Why They Can Be
Scary

• Brent McCown
• Horticulture/Environmental Studies,
• Director, CIAS
• UW-Madison
• (bhmccown_at_facstaff.wisc.edu)

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A Translation

• Genetic engineering is just one part of
  biotechnology
• Most GMOs are not GEOs!
• GEOs discussed here

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Genetically-Engineered Foods Why They Can Be
Scary

• What is genetic engineering?
• How extensively is it being used for food crops?
• Current public perceptions of genetic
  engineering?
• Why all the fuss?
• Future?

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Genetically-Engineered Food Public Perceptions

• What is genetic engineering?
• How extensively is it being used for food crops?
• Current public perceptions of genetic
  engineering?
• Why all the fuss?
• Future questions?

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Genetic Engineering (GEO not GMO)

• Multi-step step process
• Determine needed trait
• Get gene (genomics)
• Modify gene (molecular biology)
• Add other genes
• Insert gene (transformation)
• Recover engineered organism (regeneration)
• Test and market

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Target Tissue
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Engineered DNA (Genes)
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Gene Gun (Bombardment)
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Bombarded Stem
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Regeneration of Engineered Plant
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Field Tests
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Genetically-Engineered Food Public Perceptions

• What is genetic engineering?
• How extensively is it being used for food crops?
• Current public perceptions of genetic
  engineering?
• Why all the fuss?
• Future?

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Countries Growing G.E. Crops

• 16 of field
• crop area
• worldwide
• 30 of US
• field crop acreage

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Total Area of G.E. Crops in the U.S.
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Use of G.E. for Food Crops (2002)

• 25 of U.S. corn crop
• Bt-based pest control
• 75 of U.S. soybean
• Round-up herbicide tolerance
• 70 U.S. cotton crop (incl. oil)
• Bt-based pest control
• 60 Canadian canola (herbicide tolerance)
• 50 of papaya
• Virus resistance

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So GEOs Are a Highly Adopted Technology.
But.

• British Medical Association called for a
  moratorium on G.E. foods
• European countries have banned commodity G.E.
  crops
• Gerber and Heinz stopped using G.E. corn and
  soybeans in baby foods
• Gerber owned by Novartis

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But.

• Iams no longer uses G.E. corn in pet foods
• McCain Foods no longer accepts G.E. potatoes
  for processing
• Stopped adoption of G.E. potatoes
• U.S. definitions of Organic foods ban all
  G.E. products
• Sustainable Agriculture proponents shun GEOs.

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Genetically-Engineered Food Public Perceptions

• What is genetic engineering?
• How extensively is it being used for food crops?
• Current public perceptions of genetic engineering
  
• Why all the fuss?
• Future public attitudes?

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The World Public and GEO Awareness
Have you ever read or heard anything about GM
Foods
-Kamaldeen/Powell, 2000 -Angus Reid World Poll
(Angus Reid, 2000)
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The World Public and GE Food Use
See the trend towards GM foods as negative
-Kamaldeen/Powell, 2000 -Angus Reid World Poll
(Angus Reid, 2000)
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US Public and GEO Food
-PEW Initiative report
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US Public and GEOs
-PEW Initiative report numbers are rank, 10
most favorable.
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Genetically-Engineered Food Public Perceptions

• What is genetic engineering?
• How extensively is it being used for food crops?
• Current public perceptions of genetic
  engineering?
• Why all the fuss?
• Future public attitudes?

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Why GEOs can scare the public
European public concerns about biotechnology
(1999)
(Percentage who agree with concern)
Concerns
Supporters
Opponents
Threatens the
54
89
natural order...
Beneficial but
fundamentally
57
92
unnatural..
The risks not
34
80
acceptable...

(Nature Biotech. 18937)
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Why does the public think GEOs are scary?
SCARY

• 'unnatural'

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Butnot everything is scary!
European public attitudes toward biotechnology
(1999)
Country
Genetic
Medicine
Bio-
GM
GM food
Clone
Testing
Clean-
crops
animals
up
Norway



--
--
--
UK



-
-
-
Spain/Port





-

Avg. (16)



-
--
--

--


strong opposition

Strong support
(Nature Biotech. 18938)
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Why Is Food G.E. Getting a Negative Reputation?

• Information at public level is awful!
• The technology is revolutionary
• Problems created by industry itself
• Real problems exist
• Distrust of government monitoring agencies

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Why Is Food G.E. Getting A Negative Reputation?

• Information at public level is awful!
• The technology is revolutionary
• Mistakes by industry
• Public has no buy-in
• Real problems exist
• Distrust of government monitoring agencies

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A Case Study

• Recent issue
• Monarch butterflies and Bt corn

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The Beginning

• Pollen from corn engineered to kill insects (Bt)
• Coated milkweed leaves
• Monarch caterpillars
• Fed on leaves in laboratory
• 50 died in 4 days

News release and letter to the editor of Nature
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Cornell Experiment
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Final Interpretation !
Killer Corn
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Case Study

• What information do you really need?
• What is dosage of pollen needed to affect
  caterpillars?
• Is this a real threat in the field?

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Newer Evidence

• 135 to 700 pollen grains/cm2 needed to kill 1/3
  of caterpillars in 5 days
• Milkweed surrounded by corn has 50 to 75 pollen
  grains/cm2 on leaves
• Milkweeds 30 ft from corn have 1 grain /cm2 on
  leaves
• Conclusion Not a likely threat to Monarch
  butterflies

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Why Is Food G.E. Getting A Negative Reputation?

• Information at public level is awful!
• The technology is revolutionary
• Mistakes by industry
• Public has no buy-in
• Real problems exist
• Distrust of government monitoring agencies

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The Technology Is Revolutionary

• Source of genes coding for traits
• Can come from any living organism
• For crop plants
• Bacterial genes most common
• Questions that arise
• Is this natural?
• What is a vegetarian meal?
• Religious connotations

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Why Is Food G.E. Getting a Negative Reputation?

• Information at public level is awful!
• The technology is revolutionary
• Problems created by industry itself
• Real problems exist
• Distrust of government monitoring agencies

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Problems Created by Industry Itself

• Have consumers asked for the most commonly
  engineered traits?
• Herbicide tolerance
• Pushed on consumers
• Current traits really not consumer friendly

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Problems Created by Industry Itself

• Monopolistic character of industry
• Few major players
• Ownership of technology
• Crop diversity issues
• Who should own genetic resources?

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Why Is Food G.E. Getting A Negative Reputation?

• Information at public level is awful!
• The technology is revolutionary
• Mistakes by industry
• Public has no buy-in
• Real problems exist
• Distrust of government monitoring agencies

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Problems With the Technology

• Environmental safety
• Target pests developing resistance to genes
• Overuse of a few genes overuse of chemicals?
• Spread of genes to natural (non-crop) areas
• Contamination of non-engineered products
• Especially organic crops

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But, the Technology Does Have Incredible Virtues

• More efficient use of chemicals
• Integrates well with low chemical input
  strategies
• Less use of toxic chemicals
• Less impact on beneficial organisms
• Unique traits
• Can target nutritional/health problems

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Why Is Food G.E. Getting a Negative Reputation?

• Information at public level is awful!
• The technology is revolutionary
• Mistakes by industry
• Public has no buy-in
• Real problems exist
• Distrust of monitoring agencies

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US Public and Trust for Information Sources on
GEOs
-PEW Initiative report
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Genetically-Engineered Food Public Perceptions

• What is genetic engineering?
• How extensively is it being used for food crops?
• Current public perceptions of genetic
  engineering?
• Why all the fuss?
• Future?

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Public Trends?

• Medical uses are supported more than agricultural
  uses
• Will attitudes eventually merge?
• Many value-added, consumer-friendly traits are
  under development
• Will these be more widely acceptable?
• Will GEOs ever be viewed as sustainable?
• Merge with new trends toward sustainable food
  systems

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QUESTIONS?
bhmccown_at_facstaff.wisc.edu