The 10th International Symposium on the Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms (ISBGMO), Wellington, New Zealand, November 2008

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONThe first generation of biotechnology crops, containing primarily single traits for insect resistance and/or herbicide tolerance, has been grown extensively for over fifteen years after evaluation in many regulatory systems, on several continents. This has been supported by multiple biosafety studies to assure an understanding of the interaction of these plants with the environment. During this time, various regulatory systems and risk assessment have been evolving as experience accrued. However, challenges continue to arise for risk assessors as manyArticle published by EDP Sciences J. Sweet new types of products, including animal products, are developed using advanced genetic engineering techniques. Governmental and private product developers have to contend with varying regulatory approaches depending upon legislative mandates between different countries and the need for refinement of assessment strategies to accommodate new types of products. Session I of the 10th International Symposium on the Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms (ISBGMO) continued the exploration of biosafety research and its link to risk assessment (and regulation). This paper is a synthesis of the some of the main ideas presented in Session I. Experience and biosafety researchEconomies are based either in part or in whole upon their biological resources and this dependency is projected to increase -for food, for health, for the environment and for the renewable resources that humans need to live in a sustainable, integrated manner. Ioannis Economidis considered that the use of genetic engineering is being seen more and more as one of many tools being applied to address environmental problems and opportunities that have come to the forefront of social need -from pest and disease resistance in plants and animals, to renewable energy resources, to reduction in animal pollutants and to reduction of vectors of human and animal diseases. Such a broadening range of plant products include, for example, pharmaceuticals from transgenic banana, varied oils in plants, and higher digestibility in forage plants. Martina Newell-McGloughlin indicated that the new technologies include the tools of synthetic biology, RNA interference, and applications arising from the understandings of epigenetics, transgenomics, and paramutation. Boonyanath Nathwong said that developing countries are seeing the application of genetic engineering as a means to solve problems unmanageable by traditional breeding techniques such as virus resistant papaya, chilli and tomato as well as exportable products such as colorenhanced and long-lived orchids which can contribute positively to their economies. Without taking advantage of these technologies appropriately, trade deficits continue to be intractable problems. Biosafety research on transgenic organisms is now being seen as part of the support needed to achieve the larger social policy objectives with minimal and/or manageable unwanted associated effects. To adapt to the changing scientific and product lan...

Locus‐dependent selection in crop‐wild hybrids of lettuce under field conditions and its implication for GM crop development

“…Where recombination rates between a transgene and beneficial QTLs are low, introgression of such genes is either facilitated or mitigated, depending on the trait association (Stewart et al. 2003; Sweet 2009).…”

“…Such information could then be combined with developing appropriate predictive modeling techniques (Meirmans et al. 2009; Sweet 2009).…”

“…Through marker‐assisted breeding or related techniques (Varshney and Dubey 2009), plants could be bred having transgene insertion sites in genomic regions providing the highest likelihood of being purged after escape into wild relative populations (Stewart et al. 2003; Sweet 2009).…”

“…Modeling studies have already shown that segments with only limited fitness advantage in the hybrid plants can provide rapid fixation of introduced genes (Morjan and Rieseberg 2004;Hooftman et al 2008). Where recombination rates between a transgene and beneficial QTLs are low, introgression of such genes is either facilitated or mitigated, depending on the trait association (Stewart et al 2003;Sweet 2009).…”

Citrus Transformation: Challenges and Prospects

“…Regardless of whether these concerns are just perceived or real they will have to be addressed in order to fully implement the benefits of genetic engineering in solving real and important problems for citrus farmers and at the same time delivering desirable products to consumers. Two major concerns regarding GMOs are: 1) impact to the environment, in the form of the transgene 'escaping' and transferring to wild species and thus eroding the biodiversity of wild relatives of the crop or, on the other hand, creating 'super weeds' of species that acquire the transgene and become better fitted and difficult to control (Azevedo & Araujo, 2003;Parrott, 2010;Sweet, 2009); and 2) impact to human health by a potentially toxic or allergenic transgenic protein (Domingo & Gine Bordonaba, 2011). In the particular case of citrus there are ways to mitigate these concerns.…”