Preface
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The majority of agricultural scientists, including myself anticipate great benefits from biotechnology in the coming decades to help meet our future needs for food and fiber. Norman E. Borlaug (1) Nobel Prize Laureate for Peace, 1970 Agricultural biotechnology has provided powerful tools to enhance the modification of plants to the potential benefit of society. Since the introduction of the first biotechnology product, the Flav Savr™ tomato, in 1994, followed by the introduction of Roundup Ready® soybeans and Bollgard® cotton in 1995-1996, the number of acres planted with biotechnology-derived crops has steadily increased. In 2002, the global area of biotech crops was 145 million acres, representing an increase of 12% or 15 million acres more than 2001 (2). However, the introduction and rapid adoption of this technology has not occurred without controversy. Questions have been raised about the food and feed safety of these new products and their effect on the environment. These issues have highlighted the need for communication of the experimental evidence and scientific evaluation for the assessment of the benefits and any risks to society (5). The intent of this book is to provide up-to-date information on the critical issues facing agricultural biotechnology as the 21 century unfolds. It is our hope that these presentations of research by key scientists involved in agricultural biotechnology will place information in the hands of both technical and non-technical citizens so that they may make informed decisions that will shape the future of this technology. The contents of this book were based upon two agricultural biotechnology symposia, one sponsored by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and the other sponsored by the A C S Division of Agrochemicals. Both symposia were held during the A C S National Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, in August of 2001. In addition to the chapters of the book, an introduction (Chapter 1) was added to provide background information for the reader st
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on topic areas not directly addressed in the book's chapters. Chapter 1 contains brief descriptions of the development of agricultural biotechnology, the U.S. regulatory process for biotechnology products, the importance of this technology for the developing world, and finally a look toward future prospects and the products that could help meet the needs of agricultural producers and consumers during the next five to ten years. The coverage of the topics in Chapter 1 was not intended to be comprehensive, so references are provided to assist readers who are interested in more detail. The chapters of this book are divided into three sections: Benefits: Present and Future; Analytical Methodologies; and Food, Feed, and Environmental Safety Assessment. Chapter 2, in The Benefits: Present and Future section, by Nicholas Kalaitzandonakes discusses the future of agricultural biotechnology from the perspective of national competitiveness. Kalaitzandonakes points out that apparent dissonance between technology providers and users has led to conflicting views on the future of this technology. He takes a look at technical innovation, institutions, and markets to assess the future prospects for agricultural biotechnology. Chapter 3 by Janet Carpenter and colleagues presents a discussion of the benefits of crops containing the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal protein when compared to the use of conventional chemical insecticides. These authors conclude that corn growers have increased yields whereas cotton growers have significantly reduced insecticide use when using these crops. In Chapter 4 of this section, Ann Blechl presents a review of the research on improving the food and nonfood uses of cereal crops using the tools of agricultural biotechnology. Because a majority of the world population derives a very significant portion of its calories and nutrients from the cereal crops, including rice, wheat, maize, and barley, studies of this type could have a significant influence on global nutritional health. Chapter 5 by James Stave and coauthors is the first of two chapters in the Analytical Methodologies section. Proteins are responsible for the unique biological traits in the current herbicide tolerant and insectprotected products of agricultural biotechnology. Stave presents a discussion of the essential role of immunoassays for the detection of these proteins in both grain commodities as well as processed fractions, and the potential role of these assays for compliance with food labeling requirements. The use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of D N A from plant-derived materials is the subject of Chapter 6 written by Matthias Klaften and coauthors. These authors discuss the x Bhalgat et al.; Agricultural Biotechnology ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2003.
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challenges of using PCR assays to detect the presence of maize rubisco gene in the tissues of animals fed maize in the diet and the safeguards necessary to prevent false positives when using these extremely sensitive assays. The final section of the book, Chapters 7-12, deals with the broad subject of Food, Feed, and Environmental Safety of biotechnology products. Bruce Hammond in Chapter 7 discusses the safety and benefits of insect-protected crops that contain Bt Cry proteins. The Cry proteins are a family of insecticidal materials that specifically bind to receptors in the intestinal tract of susceptible insects. Because these receptors are not present in vertebrates such as humans, the crops containing Bt are toxic to the insects but they are safe for vertebrate species. In the next chapter, Chapter 8, Mark Sears presents the results of a collaborative research project to determine the effect of Bt pollen on Monarch butterflies under field conditions. The conclusions from this work are significant because the initial observations from laboratory studies created a concern about the environmental effects of Bt crops on nontarget insects. Chapter 9 contains a discussion by Kevin Steffey and coauthors of the comparison of the effect of Bt and non-B/ corn fields on the natural enemies of the European corn borer. In Chapter 10 Gary Bannon and colleagues describe the studies that are typically conducted to determine the potential for an allergic response to the protein introduced in food from an agricultural biotechnology product. The safety assessment is a tiered testing strategy that uses available scientific data on known allergens and the allergic response. Chapter 11 describes how the analysis of the nutritional composition of a biotechnology crop is compared to that of its conventional counterpart as part of the evaluation of substantial equivalence. This process, described by William Ridley and coauthors, also emphasizes that it is important to account for the natural variability in composition that occurs as a result of the genetic background and environment of the crop plants when making these comparisons. The final chapter of the book, Chapter 12, is by J. Clark and I. Ipharraguerre in which they review the extensive data available on the animal nutrition of biotechnology products. Studies have been conducted with a wide array of livestock species fed diets containing material from genetically modified corn, soybeans, canola, cottonseed, and sugar beets. The results indicate that the animals develop in a comparable manner and the food products derived from these animals are safe for human consumption.
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Acknowledgments
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We thank the following individuals who critically reviewed the manuscripts so they would meet ACS quality standards: James I. Burke, Marjorie A. Faust, Kevin C. Glenn, Sarah Hake, Gary F. Hartnell, Ricki M . Helm, Richard L. Hellmich, Martina N . McGloughlin, Tracey L. Reynolds, Fouad S. Sayegh, Lisa M . Weaver, and John Woollard. Also the Editors are very grateful for the timely assistance of Kelly Dennis, Bob Hauserman, and Stacy VanDerWall in acquisitions and Margaret Brown in editing/prod-uction with the ACS Books Department.
References 1. Borlaug, N. "Ending World Hunger. The Promise of Biotechnology and the Threat of Antiscience Zealotry," Plant Phys. 2000, 124, 487-490. 2. James, C. "Global Review of Commercialized Transgenic Crops: 2002, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications," ISAA Briefs 2002, 27. 3. Chassy, Β. M. "Food Safety Assessment of Current and Future Plant Biotechnology Products", In Biotechnology and Safety Assessment; Thomas, J. Α.; Fuchs, R. L., Editors; Academic Press, Orlando, FL, 2002; pp 87-115.
Mahesh K. Bhalgat Amgen, Inc. Analytical Services One Amgen Center Drive Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 Phone: 805-447-6413 Fax: 805-499-9514 Email:
[email protected] William P. Ridley Monsanto Company Product Safety Center 800 North Lindbergh Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63167 Phone: 314-694-8441 Fax: 314-694-8562 Email:
[email protected] Allan S. Felsot Washington State University Entomology/Environ. Toxicology 2710 University Drive Richland, WA 99352 Phone: 509-372-7365 Fax: 509-372-7460 Email:
[email protected] James N. Seiber USDA/ARS Western Regional Research Center 800 Buchanan Street Albany, CA 94710 Phone: 510-559-5600 Fax: 510-559-5963 Email:
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Agricultural Biotechnology
Bhalgat et al.; Agricultural Biotechnology ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2003.
