Genetically Improved Crops - The Oxford Topic of Food, Politics, and Society - page 65

disaggregate modern biotechnology and examine both potential on the horizon and
obstacles to progress.
Agronomic Traits and Sustainability
The vast majority of biotech products approved to date involve agronomic traits that
protect against biotic stress such as pests. The principal focus in the immediate future
will remain on agronomic traits, especially the area of pest control, but with an increas-
ing interest in abiotic stress tolerance, which is gaining prominence as external pres-
sures from climate change to land use change.
The total area of biotech crops reached 170.3 million hectares or 420 million acres in
2012, an increase of 10 million hectares (25 million acres) from 2011. Comparing this
level with 1.7 million hectares in 1996 highlights that biotech crops are the most rapidly
adopted crop technology in the history of modern agriculture (James 2012). Developing
countries in 2012 passed the 50% mark in share of global biotech crops, exceeding for the
first time industrial countries' planted area. Of the twenty-eight countries planting bio-
tech crops in 2012, nineteen were less developed. Of the 17.3 million farmers who grew
biotech crops, over 90%, or 15 million, were small resource-poor farmers in developing
countries. Adoption of existing biotech crops has demonstrated improved sustainability
of farming in both wealthier and poorer countries as well as increased incomes for farm-
ers (Elmegaard 2001; Trewavas 2001). No-till farming has reduced energy use in fields,
for example. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) technology has reduced pesticide spraying and
mycotoxin fungal fumonisins, both of which are known health risks, including risk of
liver cancer in humans and animals.
While North America remains the epicenter for leading-edge research on geneti-
cally modified (GM) foods, other regions, such as China, are emerging as contenders
on the global stage. Agricultural science is now China's fastest-growing research field
with China's share of global publications in agricultural science: from 1.5% in 1999 to
5% in 2008 (James 2011). Indeed, China is emerging as a trendsetter in the adoption of
novel traits with its approval of Bt rice and phytase maize on November 27, 2009. Rice is
the principal staple for much of the world, and maize is the largest animal feed source.
Bt rice has the potential to increase yields up to 8%, to decrease pesticide use by 80%
(17 kg/ha), and to generate US$4 billion in benefits annually (James 2011). The phytase
approval is a major step forward in approvals because it is the first transgenic since the
FLAVR SAVR tomato focusing on a “quality” trait. However, it is far more than this both
literally and figuratively since this single trait addresses issues from the nutritional to
the environmental. Two additional quality traits are under consideration for deregula-
tion: the Arctic apple and the reduced acrylamide potato.
Okanagan, the company that created the Arctic apple, modified it to resist oxidation
when it is cut and the injured cells are exposed to oxygen, thus activating the polyphe-
nol oxidase (PPO) gene. To achieve this effect, Okanagan co-expressed PPO genes and