Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
most.environmentally.destructive.forces.on.the.planet—to.migrate.around.the.globe.
as.plants.have.been.and.are.bred.for.adaptation.to.new.regions..Clearly,.the.distinct.
regulatory.treatments,.which.impose.such.a.striking.double.standard.of.strong.regu-
lation.versus.the.absence.of.regulation,.are.a.legacy.of.history..It.is.fair.to.say.that.if.
conventional.breeding.were.forced.to.undergo.the.same.scrutiny.as.does.GE,.much.
of.it.would.not.be.legally.permissible.today..At.a.minimum,.conventional.breeding.
would.all.be.subject.to.much.higher.costs.and.long.delays,.with.inestimable.penalties.
for.yield.and.product.quality.improvement..It.is.also.very.likely.that.environmental.
impacts.of.agriculture. would.be.far.greater,.as.the.amount.of.output.per. unit.area.
of.land,.water,.and.fertilizer.would.certainly.be.far.lower.in.the.absence.of.vigorous.
plant.breeding.programs.
e nvIronmental c oncernS p rompt S tronG r eGulatIonS
The. pressing. environmental. problems. facing. society. are. another. motivation. for.
strong.regulations.of.this.new.agricultural.technology..Whether.one.considers.climate.
change,.non-point-source.pollution,.soil.erosion,.or.water.quality,.there.is.clearly.a.
pressing.need.to.reduce.the.environmental.footprint.of.agriculture..However,.is.the.
intensive. regulation. of. all. forms. of. transgenic. biotechnology,. and. only. transgenic.
biotechnology. among. breeding. methods,. a. sensible. means. for. doing. this?. Such. a.
practice.seems.especially.specious.in.that.the.environmental.beneits.of.transgenic.
crops. have,. on. the. whole,. been. strongly. positive. to. date. (primarily. in. the. form. of.
tillage.and.pesticide.ecotoxicity.reductions), 16 .yet.many.crops.with.similar.expected.
beneits.have.not.made.it.to.market.at.all. 12 .Some.of.the.most.notable.examples.of.
transgenic.crops.that,.though.developed.and.ield.proven,.have.not.made.it.to.mar-
ket,. are. horticultural. crops.. These. include. virus-resistant. berries,. disease-resistant.
apples,.and.disease-.and.insect-resistant.potatoes..All.of.these.would.have.reduced.
pesticide.applications..Although.business.and.market.factors.also.contributed,.some-
times.substantially,.to.decisions.not.to.commercialize.such.varieties,.the.overarching.
hostile.regulatory.environment.made.the.business.proposition.marginal.at.the.outset,.
especially. for. public. sector. breeders. and. smaller. companies.. It. is. not. dificult. to.
argue.that.the.stringent.regulation.of.plant.biotechnology.has.had.the.opposite.envi-
ronmental.consequence.of.what.was.intended.
f amIlIar G eneS m eet S ame r eGulatory r evIew
Unfortunately,. the. “guilty. until. proven. innocent”. framework. applies. not. just. to.
biotechnologies. that. impart. novel.properties,. such. as. new. kinds. of. pest. resistance.
proteins.or.metabolites,.but.it.applies.to.all.cases.where.a.transgenic.method.is.used..
Thus,.it.is.the.method,.not.the.actual.biological.novelty.of.the.new. gene.that.trig-
gers.the.regulatory.system..As.a.result,.we.scrutinize.all.changes.from.the.method,.
not. just. the. novel. property. imparted,. presuming. all. changes. are. hazardous. until.
“proven”. otherwise.. This. means. that. mutagenesis. due. to. the. gene. insertion. pro-
cess. is.intensely. scrutinized—though. mutagenesis. in.various. forms.has.been.long.
applied.in.conventional.breeding..The.nature.of.the.insertion.site.and.any.changes.
in. general. plant. chemistry. are. studied. in. detail,. not. just. transgene. expression. and.
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