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Friday, May 16, 2003
Biotech boosts food production
By Henrylito D. Tacio
CURRENT biotechnology can increase crop yields and reduce production costs, even for small-scale farmers in developing countries, who make up a large part of the world's poor and hungry population, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
"Biotechnology can help even the landless poor by enriching staple foods, such as through the addition of essential vitamins," says the FAO report, "Biotechnology and Food Security."
The 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology as: "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use." This even covers traditional techniques to make wine and cheese.
However, modern biotechnology generally means modification of living organisms (plants, animals and fish) through the manipulation of genes. A gene is the smallest complete unit of coded information in an organism.
This constitutes the "source code" of the organism, just as sequences of 1 and 0 define a computer file or program.
The UN food agency identifies two main types of biotechnological processes.
The first uses genetic information to speed up and improve conventional plant or animal breeding. The second -- and more advanced -- modifies the genetic pattern of a plant or animal to create a new organism. Research being conducted in the Syrian Arab Republic to improve cold tolerance of lentils is an example of the first. "Instead of crossing varieties of lentils, then slowly growing them and testing their performance until an improved type emerges, scientists are speeding up the processes by using marker-assisted selection to identify lentil genes that are cold tolerant," the FAO report explains.
The scientists will then use the variety containing that gene in conventional breeding programs.
The development of insect-resistant crops is an example of the second. Scientists have genetically modified (GM) crops such as cotton and corn by inserting a bacteria gene. The new varieties produce an insect-killing toxin, thus reducing the need for pesticides.
"Biotechnology development are largely protected by patents or other forms of intellectual property rights," FAO says.
One key issue is the extent to which the right of small-scale farmers to reuse genetically engineered seeds fro their harvest for the next planting season will be respected.
Most biotechnology research and development is in the hands of commercial interests, FAO notes. "If the technology is to serve all people, the public sector needs to play a part in its development and work to ensure fair access by the poor and hungry."
The FAO report admits there are still many unknowns regarding genetically engineered products. This is particularly true to their potential risks. Among these are:
* Inadequate controls. Although safety regimes are being improved, control over genetically modified organism (GMO) releases is not completely effective. In 2000, for instance, a corn variety cleared only for animal consumption was found in food products.
* Transfer of allergens. Allergens can be transferred inadvertently from an existing to a target organism and new allergens can be created. For example, when a Brazil nut gene was transferred to soybean, tests found that a known allergen had also been transferred. However, the danger was detected in testing and the soybean was not released.
* Unpredictability. GM crops may have unforeseen effects on farming systems - for example, by taking more resources from the soil, or using more water than normal crops.s
* Undesired gene movement. Genes brought into a species artificially may cross accidentally to an unintended species. For instance, resistance to herbicide could spread from a GM crop into weeds, which could then become herbicide-resistant themselves.
* Environmental hazards. GM fish might alter the composition of natural fish populations if they escape into the wild. For instance, fish that have been genetically modified to eat more in order to grow faster might invade new territories and displace native fish populations.
Meanwhile, many developing countries are involved in GMO research. In Asia, field-testing of GMOs is under way in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines. These countries are testing one or more of the following: GM tobacco, aubergine, tomato, cotton, sorghum and bananas.
(May 16, 2003 issue)
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