Safe use of Cry genes in genetically modified crops (original) (raw)
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Phytoparasitica
The release of transgenic organisms has evoked an unusual legal process in that laws governing it are prospective on perceived risks rather than retrospective on experienced risks as is the usual case with legislating against problems. Most countries undertaking transgenic releases have adopted a regulatory structure usually comprising controlled releases to address questions of perceived risks followed by uncontrolled commercial releases. There has been an increasing number of commercial releases from approximately 11 million hectares of transgenic crops in 1997 to more than 27 million hectares in 1998. Most of these commercial releases have been in industrialized countries with only a small proportion in developing countries. The controlled releases, together with laboratory experiments, have addressed a range of perceived risks which can be put into three groups: risks to humans and domesticated animals, risks to the environment, and commercial risks. These perceived risks have to be assessed against the baseline of current and projected farming practices with non-transgenic crops. Few, if any, of these perceived risks have been shown to be real risks which are significantly more important than the non-transgenic situation. The situation with plants transgenically protected against virus infection was discussed. In some countries, the discussions on transgenic crop releases have entered the public domain. The debate has raised various ethical issues and reflects the wish of society to be involved in the adoption of new technologies.
An overview of the last 10 years of genetically engineered crop safety research
The technology to produce genetically engineered (GE) plants is celebrating its 30th anniversary and one of the major achievements has been the development of GE crops. The safety of GE crops is crucial for their adoption and has been the object of intense research work often ignored in the public debate. We have reviewed the scientific literature on GE crop safety during the last 10 years, built a classified and manageable list of scientific papers, and analyzed the distribution and composition of the published literature. We selected original research papers, reviews, relevant opinions and reports addressing all the major issues that emerged in the debate on GE crops, trying to catch the scientific consensus that has matured since GE plants became widely cultivated worldwide. The scientific research conducted so far has not detected any significant hazards directly connected with the use of GE crops; however, the debate is still intense. An improvement in the efficacy of scientific communication could have a significant impact on the future of agricultural GE. Our collection of scientific records is available to researchers, communicators and teachers at all levels to help create an informed, balanced public perception on the important issue of GE use in agriculture.
Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira, 2008
The objective of this work was to analyze the agronomic performance and chromosomal stability of transgenic homozygous progenies of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill.], and to confirm the resistance of these plants against Anticarsia gemmatalis. Eleven progenies expressing cry1Ac, hpt and gusA genes were evaluated for agronomic characteristics in relation to the nontransformed parent IAS 5 cultivar. Cytogenetical analysis was carried out on transgenic and nontransgenic plants. Two out of the 11 transgenic progenies were also evaluated, in vitro and in vivo, for resistance to A. gemmatalis. Two negative controls were used in resistance bioassays: a transgenic homozygous line, containing only the gusA reporter gene, and nontransgenic 'IAS 5' plants. The presence of cry1Ac transgene affected neither the development nor the yield of plants. Cytogenetical analysis showed that transgenic plants presented normal karyotype. In detached-leaf bioassay, cry1Ac plants exhibited complete efficacy against A. gemmatalis, whereas negative controls were significantly damaged. Whole-plant feeding assay confirmed a very high protection of cry1Ac against velvetbean caterpillar, while nontransgenic 'IAS 5' plants and homozygous gusA line exhibited 56.5 and 71.5% defoliation, respectively. The presence of cry1Ac transgene doesn't affect the majority of agronomic traits (including yield) of soybean and grants high protection against A. gemmatalis.
Journal of Biotechnology 107 (2004) 193–232 Review
Approximately fifty marker genes used for transgenic and transplastomic plant research or crop development have been assessed for efficiency, biosafety, scientific applications and commercialization. Selectable marker genes can be divided into several categories depending on whether they confer positive or negative selection and whether selection is conditional or non-conditional on the presence of external substrates. Positive selectable marker genes are defined as those that promote the growth of transformed tissue whereas negative selectable marker genes result in the death of the transformed tissue.
APPLICATIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY TO CROPS: BENEFITS AND RISKS
The purpose of this paper is to summarize the recent scientific developments that underpin modern biotechnology and to discuss the potential risks and benefits when these are applied to agricultural crops. This introductory paper is intended for a general audience who are not specialists in the area but who are interested in participating in the current debate about the future of genetically modified crops. This debate is particularly timely with the forthcoming discussion of a new round of international trade talks in Seattle in December 1999 where international trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will be an issue. This paper is restricted to genetically modified crops. It is the intention of CAST to produce a series of subsequent papers that will address some of these issues in more detail and in the broader context of genetic modification beyond crops.
Global Journal of Immunology and Allergic Diseases
Background: Genetically engineered (GM) crops are produced by the insertion of specific genes from Bacillus thuringiensis [Bt] that encode a transgenic protein which must be evaluated for potential safety and allergenicity prior to crop development and market release. Objective: The aim of the present work was to re inspect the allergenicity of Cry 1Ab, Cry 1Ac and Cry 1C transgenic protein sequences using FASTA based bioinformatics tools. Methods: An in silico approach was employed to assess allergenicity and cross-reactivity of three Cry proteins-Cry 1Ab, Cry 1Ac and Cry 1C being preferred transgenic proteins of crop developers in India. A non-allergenic dietary spinach rubisco, a small subunit protein, and a known food allergen Arah 1 were analysed as per recommended criteria, using Full FASTA alignment and 80 amino acid window approach in allergen databases-FARRP and SDAP. Results: None of the transgenic Cry 1Ab, Cry 1Ac and Cry 1C proteins showed sequence similarity of >35% with any known allergenic sequence in allergen databases. Dietary protein showed a high of only 21% similarity with Apim allergen sequence, while Arah 1, a proven food allergen reflected greater than 35% sequence similarity with known allergen such as beta-conglycin under the 80 amino acid window approach. Conclusion: The allergenicity assessment by in silico tools of three Cry proteins, used for development of genetically engineered crops did not indicate significant alignment and similarity with any known allergen(s) in the database. This confirmed the approach for use of Cry proteins as safe transgenic proteins in genetic engineering from allergenicity point of view.
Prof. Dr. Jürgen SİMON - Advantages and Risks of Gene Modified Crops for Farmers
The cultivation of biotechnologically optimized useful plants is growing rapidly worldwide. But in the European Union its development is dropping. This is the result of an actual report of the non-governmental organization "International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications" (ISAAA).1 Following its survey the area under cultivation for trans gene plants has grown about 7% in 2009 to 134 Mill hectares. This is nearly the area of the whole agriculture in Western Europe. More than 14 Mill. Farmers in 25 countries used gene biotechnological optimized seeds in 2009. For example, every second cotton fiber comes from genetically modified organisms