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Are GMOs Good or Bad? Genetic Engineering & Our Food

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http://theconversation.com/how-gm-crops-can-help-us-to-feed-a-fast-growing-world-71112

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You hear a lot about GMOs these days-but what's the real deal? Are they scary "frankenfoods" or a safe and viable addition to the global food chain?

We sat down with biotechnology expert Josh Arnold, Ph.D. to find out. Here's what we learned:

GMOs are tested for safety and allergen potential before they go to market.

In the United States, GM food products must be before they can be sold-far more so than conventionally bred crops. The testing process can take 7-10 years, and must include evaluations of potential risks to humans and livestock as well as potential risks to wildlife and the environment.

Part of the testing includes nutritional analysis andprotein analysis and characterization. In these studies, researches look at the proteins and peptides expressed in the bioengineered organism compared to the original. This allows researchers to identify any new proteins created by the GM crop that could produce an allergic reaction or other adverse effect. Battelle helps companies conduct many of the required studies, including allergen testing for GMO products.

In fact, GM food products are among the most tested products in history.

A meta-study of more than 1,700 peer-reviewed studies found no evidence that GMO crops produce adverse affects in humans or livestock. And a recent review of 29 years of livestock health and productivity statistics-looking at relevant data from both before and after the introduction of genetically engineered feed and covering more than one billion animals-concluded that GM feed is every bit as safe and nutritious as non-GM.

Based on peer-reviewed evidence, theWorld Health Organization, the American Medical Association and the British Royal Society, among others, have all concluded that foods containing GM ingredients are as safe as the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional techniques.

Learn how we're advancing the science of Bioformulation

Biotechnology can be used to make foods more nutritious.

Researchers are using biotechnology to make genetically modified foods that provide real benefits to humans and livestock. For example:

This tomato was engineered to produce higher levels of nutrients called anthocyanins, which have been shown to be protective against a wide variety of human diseases.

The Golden Rice Project seeks to bring vitamin-A enriched rice to market to help prevent nearly 500,000 cases of childhood blindness and 2 million deaths caused by vitamin-A deficiency in third world countries each year.

Unfortunately, many of these valuable and potentially lifesaving projects are unable to come to market because of public misunderstandings about the potential dangers of GMOs.

GMOs can actually reduce pesticide use.

Contrary to what some believe, GMO crops can actually allow farmers to use less (and less toxic) pesticides on their fields. This is because GM crops can be modified to allow more targeted use of herbicides and pesticides, provide more intrinsic pest resistance, and allow GM plants to compete more effectively against encroaching weeds. In fact, a German meta-study published in PLoS One concluded:

"On average, GM technology adoption has reduced chemical pesticide use by 37%, increased crop yields by 22%, and increased farmer profits by 68%."

GMOs may be our best bet to adapt to changing global conditions.

Climate change and population growth are putting increased pressure on the agricultural industry to feed a hungry world. Many of our best croplands, like California, are experiencing unprecedented levels of drought. In other areas, we are experiencing new blights and invasive pests that seriously impact food production.

Biotechnology can help us develop new, more resilient crop varieties that are better able to survive these changing conditions. The GMOs under development today, along with improved conventional farming methods and new biologic crop protection products, will help us meet the challenges of tomorrow.

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You hear a lot about GMOs these days-but what's the real deal? Are they scary "frankenfoods" or a safe and viable addition to the global food chain? We sat down with biotechnology expert Josh Arnold, Ph.D. to find out.

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https://fas.org/biosecurity/education/dualuse-agriculture/2.-agricultural-biotechnology/genetically-engineered-crops.html

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How are GMOs Made? The Genetically Modified Hawaiian Papaya Case Study

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In 2008, a biotech industry lobbying group, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), claimed that in 2007 alone use of GMO crops resulted in a reduction of pesticide use of over 77,000 metric tons of active ingredients. The group said that was equivalent to using 18 percent less pesticide on farmers' fields.

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Non-GMO (genetically modified organism) is a label you'll see on plenty of seed packets. But what does it really mean for gardeners?

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Farmers and ranchers have many choices when it comes to growing crops as well as feed for animals. Growing conventional crops, Genetically modified (GM) crops, organic crops or a combination is the choice of a farmer. Many farmers plant GM seeds for specific reasons such as protecting their crops from adverse weather or enhancing yields. However, all methods of production contribute to meeting consumer demands for food products as well as producing healthy choices for everyone and protecting the environment.

Farmers use GM seeds for a number of reasons, including to reduce crop damage from weeds, diseases and insects as well as from adverse weather conditions such as drought or flooding. GM seeds often allow farmers to be more precise about their use of inputs like nutrients, pesticides and water needed to grow crops.

Safety and FDA Review
" FDA has no basis for concluding that bioengineered foods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way, or that, as a class, foods developed by the new techniques present any different or greater safety concern than foods developed by traditional plant breeding. "

Since 1995, food from GM seeds has been commercially available and has been proven safe for human and animal consumption. No other crops have been more studied or subject to greater scientific review. GM seeds undergo testing for safety, health and nutritional value - and regulation is overseen by The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, there is no substantiated evidence of a difference in risks to human health between genetically engineered crops and conventionally bred crops. Research shows that the current commercial crops from GM seeds have the same nutritional properties as non-GM seed crops and are not harmful for humans and animals to consume. In the years that farmers have grown crops from GM seeds, there has not been a single instance of harm to human health.

For roughly 10,000 years, farmers have been genetically altering plants and seeds through selective breeding to improve characteristics such as yield, taste and nutrition. Today's GM seeds are part of this evolution - their development is sped up and more precise by inserting the genes from one plant into another in a laboratory setting.

Using Fewer Resources to Feed More People
As the world's population grows and agricultural production land resources stay the same or diminish, GM seeds can be a critical tool in feeding the world without depleting resources or harming the environment. GM seeds can contribute to a reduction in the amount of land, water and chemicals needed to produce more food. This can contribute greatly to conservation and environmental stewardship, in particular preserving our land and keeping soil healthy. Additionally, as seed companies and researchers continue to make new strides in developing crops with the use of genetic engineering, there are increased opportunities to enhance the nutritional profile of foods that are important in developing countries that need nutrient-rich food.

In fact, in June 2016, more than 100 Nobel laureates signed a letter urging Greenpeace to end its opposition to GMOs, and halt its campaign to prevent potentially life saving options for the world's poor, including Golden Rice. Their campaign states "We urge Greenpeace and its supporters to re-examine the experience of farmers and consumers worldwide with crops and foods improved through biotechnology, recognize the findings of authoritative scientific bodies and regulatory agencies, and abandon their campaign against 'GMOs' in general and Golden Rice in particular."

As more and more people ask questions about how we as a society grow and raise our food, it is important for consumers to understand GM seeds. Farmers and ranchers have choices and ultimately they select the best practice that fits their business. In addition, consumers have the right to choose what foods they want. Food from GM seeds has the same nutritional characteristics as food from seeds produced through conventional breeding, including organic crops. It is inaccurate to categorize food from GM seeds as harmful to human health because it simply has not been proven. USFRA encourages all consumers to turn to trustworthy, scientifically valid sources of information.

Explore GMO Topics

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GMOs - Using Fewer Resources to Feed More People - Food Dialogues

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Farmers and ranchers have many choices when it comes to growing crops as well as feed for animals. Growing conventional crops, Genetically modified (GM) crops, organic crops or a combination is the choice of a farmer. Many farmers plant GM ...

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Recently, Italian researchers published a review of studies concluding planting genetically modified (GM) maize (corn) over the past 20 years has increased the agricultural yield of this popular and important staple food. In this context, it is important to remember one of the most popular myths perpetuated about GM crops: that they aren't boosting yields. In fact, in 2016 the media mentioned this point when the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (NAS) published an extensive review of about 1,000 studies about the safety of GM crops. Apart from concluding that GMOs are as safe as conventional crops, the review mentioned that "there was no evidence that transgenic crops had changed the rate of increase in yields."

That phrase was enough for many journalists to erroneously publish news mentioning that GM crops "were useless to increase agricultural yield." New York Times reporter Danny Hakim even published a controversial article around that claim, which was widely criticized by academics and researchers. While this point about "no change in yield" is real, it was omitted that GM crops currently harvested at the commercial level haven't been modified to directly increase agricultural yield, such as increasing the number of grains, pods, fruits or size of the plant. The GM crops that have been commercialized since 1996 were designed for two main traits: resistance to insects (or diseases) and/or tolerance to herbicides. In recent years, new traits such as drought-tolerance and non-browning have been commercially approved.

Insect-resistant Bt crops, and those that confer virus-resistance, like the Hawaiian papaya, reduce crop losses and require fewer phytosanitary products compared to conventional susceptible crops. In the case of herbicide-tolerant GM crops, they allow a better control of problematic weeds and facilitate the adoption of more environmentally friendly phytosanitary products, as well as sustainable no-till farming practices. The reduction of losses by pests, viruses and weeds that compete for soil nutrients, together with savings in phytosanitary products and fuel, indirectly increase the final yield when compared with conventional crops.

These advantages were previously documented in two major academic reviews by agricultural economists. The first, which was published in 2014 and included the review of 147 studies, concluded that GM crops have allowed an average increase in agricultural yield by 22 percent and increased farmers' profits by 68 percent, with profit margins even larger in developing countries.

The second review is a study published annually covering the data of the global GM crops production. The last version, published in 2017, indicates that between 1996 and 2015, GM crops increased global production by 357.7 million tons of corn, 180.3 million tons of soybean, 25.2 million tons of cotton fiber, 10.6 million tons of canola and about a ton of sugar beet. In addition, the report mentions that GM crops significantly reduced the use of agricultural land due to this higher productivity. In 2015 alone they prevented almost 20 million hectares from being used for agricultural purposes, thus reducing the environmental impact cultivating forests or wild lands. This is a great environmental benefit derived from the higher agricultural yield.

Apart from these two major revisions, there is the new one referenced at the start of this post: a paper that was published a couple of days ago by Italian researchers, who reviewed more than 6,000 studies over 20 years of GM corn harvest. They concluded that GM crops allowed an increase in yield of 6 percent to 25 percent, depending on the country, with the additional benefit of reducing mycotoxin levels by one-third. These toxins contributed to major economic losses and cause serious health problems.

If GM crops didn't provide a significant yield benefit to farmers, they would simply choose to use conventional seeds. However, the amount of arable land planted with GM crops has multiplied 100-fold in the last decade, from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 185.1 million hectares in 2016. These crops were planted by 18 million farmers in 26 countries, making GM the fastest adopted crop technology worldwide in recent times. This impressive increase in the adoption rate speaks for itself, in terms of its sustainability, resilience, extra income and the significant yield benefits available to both small and big farmers.
Genes for better yield
The only GM crop designed for higher yield that has received commercial approval is a GM eucalyptus developed in Brazil, which was approved in 2015. A gene from the model plant Arabipdopsis thaliana was inserted into the eucalyptus, which produced 20 percent more wood and reduced the time to maturity from 7 to 5.5 years.

Outside the forestry sector, although there are still no commercially available GM plants specifically designed to maximize yield (in terms of, for example, grain production or plant biomass), there are already several developments at the experimental or regulation stage.

A very promising example is the so-called "C4 rice" developed by scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, with collaboration from researcher groups all over the world. Because rice has C3 photosynthesis (3-carbon pathway), which is much less efficient than the C4 photosynthesis (4-carbon pathway) of crops such as corn or sugar cane, scientists work on inserting genes to express the metabolic pathway of C4 photosynthesis in rice plants. This accelerates plant growth by capturing carbon dioxide and concentrating it in specialized cells in the leaves, allowing the process of photosynthesis to work much more efficiently.

The technology that is being applied experimentally in rice and wheat - two crops that have already reached their peak of yield and feed the majority of the world's population - would increase yield by 50 percent. In addition, it would be possible to use much less water and fertilizer to produce the same amount of food. This project has already had its first positive results.

Another project is the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research effort that is also engineering plants to photosynthesize more efficiently to increase crop yields. They have already succeeded increasing yields with model plants such as tobacco and Arabidopsis, and they are now transferring the technology to crops important in developing countries, such as cassava, rice and beans.

There are other projects under way that address the optimization of the photosynthesis process. For example, a University of Illinois initiative achieved a 20 percent higher yield in tobacco by overexpressing three genes protecting damage at times when more light is obtained. Other research managed to increase the yield of soy under conditions that emulate the higher temperatures and carbon dioxide levels expected in the year 2050.

There are also various GM crops in the experimental stage that can directly maximize the yield trait. These include a wheat with 20 percent higher yield, developed by Rothamsted Research in the United Kingdom, and another GM wheat with larger grains developed by the Austral University in Chile; a soybean with 36 percent more grain developed by Washington State University; a mustard with 25 to 34 percent more seeds developed by the University of Delhi in India; a corn with 50 percent larger kernels and an increased number of grains developed by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in the United States; and a rice with a 54 percent higher yield developed by public sector researchers from the United Kingdom and China.
Other GM traits and gene editing
Additionally, a series of GM crops have modified to express traits like an efficient use of soil nitrogen, which directly increases agricultural yield while reducing the use of fertilizers, and the new generation of diverse drought-tolerant, heat-tolerant and salinity-tolerant crops, which will increase the final yield in soils that face water scarcity, warm climates or high salt levels.

And we can't leave aside the new breeding techniques (NBTs), which also offer tools for improving yield. In fact, at the end of last year a review was published that analyzed 52 studies using the gene editing technology known as CRISPR from 2014 to mid-2017. The results showed that 15 crops were studied for the application of CRISPR. The most studied crop has been rice, followed by tobacco, Arabidopsis and corn. The majority of CRISPR applications were to improve crop yields, followed by improved nutrient content (biofortification) and tolerance to biotic/abiotic stresses.

An example of these developments is the modification of the structure of the plant, the size of the frui, and the architecture of ramification in tomato through CRISPR by CSHL scientists.

All of these crops deliver benefits not only for farmers, but also for the environment by reducing land use and general environmental impact, and for consumers by supporting global food security. It's estimated that to feed a growing population, we will need to increase the food supply by 60 to 70 percent by 2050, which is why we need to use all possible technologies to boost agricultural production while reducing the environmental impact. However, the ability of society as a whole to enjoy the benefits of this technology depends in large part on decision makers, governments and the regulatory frameworks of each country. Let's hope they don't react too late, since it requires at least a decade and a lot of investment to take GM crops from the laboratory into the field, and the goal to significantly expand global food production is just around the corner.

Categories

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GMO crops have been increasing yield for 20 years, with more progress ahead - Alliance for Science

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Recently, Italian researchers published a review of studies concluding planting genetically modified (GM) maize (corn) over the past 20 years has increased the agricultural yield of this popular and important staple food. In this context, it is important to remember one of the most popular myths perpetuated about GM crops: that they aren't boosting yields.

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China has experienced large and sustained reductions in pesticide use as a result of adopting GMO cotton, according to the largest-ever scientific study on the impacts of Bt cotton use in that country.

Although Bt was only targeting the cotton bollworm, the subsequent reduction in pesticide applications allowed natural predators to further control other insect pests, such as aphids, suggesting benefits to farmers resulting from a more healthy ecosystem.

However, the reduction in broad-spectrum insecticide sprays allowed some insect pests, particularly mirid bugs, to proliferate and present a new problem for farmers. This meant that some insecticide use has continued.

Reducing pesticides in Chinese cotton farming is a top priority because China is the largest cotton producer in the world, using four times more pesticides (in tons of active ingredients) than the United States.

Historically, about a third of pesticides in China are used on cotton, and many of these are classed as extremely hazardous by the World Health Organization, contributing to 400-500 farmer deaths annually due to pesticide poisoning.

The study, lead-authored by Wei Zhang of the International Food Policy Research Institute, examines cotton pest severity and insecticide use at a county scale in China over a 25-year period, from 1991 to 2015.

Unlike Bt cotton in India and the US, which was originally developed by Monsanto, Chinese Bt cotton was produced in government research laboratories at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

It was first introduced to Chinese cotton farmers in 1997 and reached full adoption in all eight cotton-growing provinces by 2012.

As expected, both cotton bollworm infestations and the use of insecticide sprays to control the pest declined dramatically between 1997 and 2015. The use of pesticide sprays to control aphids also declined slightly over that time period.

But the decreased use of pesticides allowed mirid bugs to flourish after 2000, leading to a partial resurgence in the use of insecticides.

Since 2008, however, both spraying and pest infestations show a slightly decreasing trend, suggesting that cotton production in China is steadily becoming less environmentally destructive.

The authors note that their study is consistent with the findings of Lu et al., whose 2012 paper in Nature found a resurgence in beneficial insect and arthropod predators thanks to China's widespread adoption of Bt cotton and the resulting decline in insecticide use.

The authors conclude that Chinese cotton farmers could reduce spraying even more but refrain from doing so, despite the high financial cost of pesticides, due to a "risk-averse attitude and lack of knowledge."

As many researchers note, this latest study, published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal PNAS, shows that adopting genetically modified Bt crops is not a silver bullet when it comes to the need to reduce pesticides in agriculture.

However, the study does add to an overwhelming body of scientific data showing that GMO crops - despite constant attacks from environmentalist critics - can make farming more sustainable by helping to drive down the use of agrochemicals.

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GMO cotton prompts dramatic drop in China's pesticide use - Alliance for Science

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China has experienced large and sustained reductions in pesticide use as a result of adopting GMO cotton, according to the largest-ever scientific study on the impacts of Bt cotton use in that country. Although Bt was only targeting the cotton bollworm, the subsequent reduction in pesticide applications allowed natural predators to further control other insect ...