Benefits and Costs of Biologically Contained Genetically Modified Tomatoes and Eggplants in Italy and Spain

Abstract

Abstract:In this paper we assess the benefits and costs of introducing biologically contained genetically modified (GM) crops, with an application to the potential introduction of GM tomatoes and eggplants in Italy and Spain. Such crops possess both the standard beneficial GM traits, and they prevent introgression of transgenes from GM crops to their conventional or wild relatives, thereby adding to the safety of their cultivation. As a result, coexistence regulations for these crops are less stringent than for crops without biological containment. The potential adoption of biologically contained GM tomatoes and eggplants is assessed in a cost-benefit framework for Italy and Spain. We conclude that biological containment has considerable potential benefits if policy makers are willing to loosen the restrictions on the introduction of these varieties.

The Cost of Postponement of Bt Rice Commercialization in China

“…Further, Bt rice is just one example among several new crops developed using advances in plant breeding. The results presented for Bt rice carry over to many other crops, including Vitamin A-enriched rice (Wesseler and Zilberman, 2014), insect-resistant vegetables, such as eggplants and tomatoes (Groeneveld et al, 2011), and GMOs in general (Barrows et al, 2014). Studies show that delaying approval for the cultivation of these crops comes at substantial economic costs (see, for example, Zilberman et al, 2018).…”

Heterologous expression of Arabidopsis C-repeat binding factor 3 (AtCBF3) and cold-regulated 15A (AtCOR15A) enhanced chilling tolerance in transgenic eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

“…A lot of efforts have been tried to improve the cold tolerance of eggplant via genetic breeding, but limited progress has been made for lack of proper germplasm resources. Transgenesis has been successful in engineering useful agronomical traits in eggplant, such as resistances against insects (Groeneveld et al 2011), fungal wilt diseases (Prabhavathi and Rajam 2007), rootknot nematodes (Goggin et al 2006), abiotic stresses (Prabhavathi et al 2002;Prabhavathi and Rajam 2007), parthenocarpy (Acciarri et al 2002;Rotino et al 1997), and male sterility (Cao et al 2010) as well. The improvement in chilling tolerance of eggplant plants, however, has been achieved a little through the gene coding for mannitol phosphodehydrogenase (mtlD) from Escherichia coli (Prabhavathi et al 2002) and the one for arginine decarboxylase (adc) (Prabhavathi and Rajam 2007), respectively, although freezing effect was observed on the stored or processed eggplant fruits which were beared parthenocarpically using an iaaM gene and an ovule-specific promoter to increase the content and/or the activity of indole-3-acetic acid (Maestrelli et al 2003).…”

Genetic Engineering and Transgenic Breeding

“…Best practices for coexistence include, inter alia, seed purity, spatial or temporal isolation to mitigate outcrossing, isolation distance threshold levels, and buffer or discard zones, and measurements to avoid admixtures at harvesting, drying, transport, and storage (Czarnak-Kłos and Rodríguez-Cerezo 2010). Biological containment, which prevents dispersal of seeds or outcrossing through pollen by changing the plant's reproductive system, should also facilitate coexistence (Groeneveld et al 2011).…”