Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
by. gene-silencing,. through. an. antisense. RNA. that. interfered. with. translation. and.
reduced.the.production.of.speciic.proteins.that.cause.ripening . (pp..256-257). 3
The.irst.Flavr-Savr.tomatoes.were.sold.in.U.S..grocery.stores.in.the.summer.
of.1994.and.were.marketed.as.GM..They.sold.relatively.well.at.irst.and.were.in.
about. 2500. stores. by. June. 1995,. but. it. became. apparent. that. their. performance.
did. not. match. expectations.. First,. the. genes. for. delayed. ripening. were. inserted.
into. a. tomato. variety. that. was. best. suited. for. processing,. not. direct. eating,. and.
that.bruised.relatively.easily,.contrary.to.its.development.objective..Second,.con-
trary.to.expectations,.it.had.a.bland.taste.relative.to.conventional.winter.tomatoes..
Third,. the. new. tomato. variety. was. suited. to. California's. dry. summer. growing.
conditions,.but. not. to.the.humid. winter. tomato.growing. regions. of. Florida.and,.
as.a.result,.was.susceptible.to.Florida's.tomato.fungal.diseases..Fourth,.the.retail.
price.was.more.than.two.times.higher.than.conventional.fresh.market.tomatoes..
Hence,.a.number.of.factors.contributed.to.the.failure.of.the.Flavr-Savr.tomato.in.
the.U.S..market.(pp..256-257). 3,4
At. the. same. time,. Zeneca. produced. a. related. high-solid. GM. tomato. for. use. in.
purees. and. soups,. obtained. approval. for. sale. in. the. United. Kingdom,. and. began.
marketing. in. 1996. under. the. brand. names. Safeway. Double. Concentrated. Tomato.
Puree.and.Sainsbury's.California.Tomato.Puree..These.products.were.sold.at.a.lower.
per.unit.price.than.purees.from.conventional.tomatoes.and.were.marketed.in.larger.
containers.to.make.the.product.appear.to.consumers.as.a.“better.value.”.By.1999,.
the. GM. puree. had. captured. up. to. 60%. of. the. processed. tomato. market. share. in.
the.United.Kingdom..However,.when.unrelated.food.scares.(e.g.,.BSE.in.sheep.and.
cattle,.dioxin.in.livestock.feed).started.to.unfold.in.the.United.Kingdom.in.the.late.
1990s,.Zeneca's.GM.high-solid.tomato.varieties.were.a.casualty,.and.they.were.with-
drawn.from.the.market. 4
Monsanto.engineered.the.Russet.Burbank.New.Leaf.potato.to.be.resistant.to.the.
Colorado.potato.beetle,.a.major.potato.pest,.and.this.potato.was.deregulated.in.1994..
This.new.variety.offered.growers.the.advantage.of.signiicantly.reducing.the.need.
for. chemical. pesticide. applications,. and. initially. gained. favor. in. the. fresh. potato.
market..However,.under.pressure.from.consumer.groups,.the.fast-food.industry.(e.g.,.
McDonalds). and. grocery. store. chains. would. not. purchase. it. or. halted. early. pur-
chases,. and.this. prompted.Monsanto.to. withdraw.the. GM.potato.variety.from.the.
retail.market.in.1999. 5
To.date,.the.most.commercially.successful.GM.crops.in.the.United.States.have.
been.those.engineered.with.so-called.input.traits,.namely,.insect.resistance.(Bt).and.
herbicide. tolerance. (HT. or. RR/RoundUp. Ready).. These. GM. traits. were. obtained.
by.transferring.genes.largely.from.soil.bacteria.into.selective.species.of.commercial.
ield.crops.to.induce.resistance.or.tolerance.to.target.organisms,.thereby.creating.a.
so-called.transgenic.crop.variety . (pp..250-256). 3 .The.target.of.these.traits.has.been.
canola,.soybean,.cotton,.and.corn,.with.commercial.GM.varieties.of.these.four.crops.
irst.introduced.in.the.mid-1990s..These.GM.ield.crops,.whose.products.are.largely.
destined.for.oil,.feed,.and.iber,.have.had.very.rapid.grower.adoption.(Figure.9.1)..For.
instance,.HT.soybeans.were.irst.marketed.to.farmers.in.1996.and.now.account.for.
more.than.90%.of.U.S..soybean.acreage..Canola.with.HT.has.also.been.successful,.
although.it.is.a.relatively.small.acreage.crop.in.the.United.States..Bt.and.HT.cotton.
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