Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

Commercialization of Agricultural Crop Biotechnology Products
characteristics, such as pest resistance or selectivity to preferred herbicides, then the safety
assessment focuses on the introduced trait and the protein expression product of the cloned gene.
If the protein is an enzyme, the potential effects of the enzyme on metabolic pathways and levels
of endogenous metabolites based on its mode of action and specificity are assessed. The amino
acid sequence of the protein is compared to known sequences in protein to determine if the protein
has sequence homology to food proteins, toxins, or allergens. The inherent digestibility of
the protein is assessed in a test tube using simulated gastric and intestinal protease preparations,
and the level of expression of the protein in the food is determined. This assessment is focused
on the appropriate raw agricultural product or a specific processed food component (e.g., oil).
Specific criteria have been developed in consultation with nutritionists and regulatory agencies
to establish that the introduced protein is as safe as proteins already present in foods.
Key nutrients are those components in a particular food product which may have a substantial
health impact in the overall diet. These may be major constituents—fats, proteins, carbohydrates—or
minor components—essential minerals, vitamins. Critical nutrients to be assessed
are determined, in part, by knowledge of the function and expression product of the inserted
gene (e.g., if an inserted gene expresses an enzyme which is involved in amino acid biosynthesis,
then the amino acid profile is determined). Critical toxicants and antinutrients are those compounds
known to be inherently present in the crop variety whose potency could have an impact
on health if the levels were increased significantly (e.g., solanine glycoalkaloids in potatoes,
trypsin inhibitors in soybeans). Knowledge of the biologic function of the protein expression
product of the inserted gene provides clues as to which toxicants or antinutrients are examined.
The levels of key antinutrients in the genetically modified line are compared to the parental line
or conventional varieties grown under comparable environmental and agronomic conditions.
CONCLUSION
Globally, the increase in area grown to biotech crops has been an amazing story in technology
adoption. In China today, there are over two million smallholders farming Bt cotton in
just one province. Farmers like Bt cotton because, they say, it improves income, reduces their
exposure to insecticides, and assures them of getting a good harvest of cotton at the end of the
season. A U.S. Department of Agriculture study done by some universities has also shown that
farmers are the main beneficiaries of the products now available from GM technologies. In the
U.S. alone, insecticide use on cotton was reduced by an estimated 20 million kg in 2003 due to
the planting of biotech cotton with the Bt gene (www.ncfap.org).
Consumer benefits are the least even though prices are maintained. This may contribute to
opposition to GM crops in some countries because with this current set of products the benefits
of the technology have not been obvious to consumers. In the near future, another set of products
that focuses more on nutritional traits may more clearly demonstrate the benefits of biotechnology
to the general public. Many of the crop biotech products in the public sector research
pipeline (see the paper by Teng and James in this Study Mission) will demonstrate more clearly
the benefits to small farmers as they focus on a range of crops collectively known as “orphan
crops”; the private sector has so far commercialized only soybean, corn, cotton, and canola.
Another significant development will be the move towards quality traits, such as enhanced levels
of vitamins and other nutrition or diet-preferred food. Countries like Malaysia are also working
on the concept of plants as factories, using the oil palm tree in particular as a manufacturer of
hydrocarbons with industrial applications. There is also ongoing work on using crops as carriers
of medicine, such as vaccines (Cohen, 2005).
The major bottlenecks to large-scale commercialization of crop biotech products are not
technological or scientific issues, but rather related to public acceptance, trade, and adequate
frameworks for government oversight. In this paper, these issues have been discussed in depth.
The recent meeting in Montreal to review recommendations for actioning the Cartagena Bio-
– 83 –