Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
of research only. For commercial, in the very broadest
sense, application you have to come to an agreement
with the patent holder.
There has been, and still is, continuing debate on the
ethics of being able to patent DNA - some argue that it is
the basis of life so cannot be patented while others claim
that the work effort and technology required to identify
and extract it, means they must have protection so that
they can recover their investment. Other controversies
have been raised over who has rights when for example
a gene is found in a species which has been collected as
germplasm from another, perhaps developing, country?
Thus some years ago breeders worked on a principle
that ' pollen was free ' but specific genotypes were basically
protected (i.e. you could use any material as a parent
but could not exploit it directly). Now this has been
overtaken by, for example, protection for a number of
processes the breeder might consider using; a genotype
has to be changed substantially before being recognized
as still not being the property of the originator; and
paying of royalties to include a particular gene in a cul-
tivar for exploitation. There are, of course, no 'black
and white' answers or solutions but it is an increasingly
complex area to operate within.
and stress and multiple tolerances. We consider that
environmental risks and benefits should be assessed at the
same time .'
The advances in crop development by genetic engi-
neering have occurred so rapidly that non-technical
issues have primarily influence the initial introduc-
tions of these crops into agriculture. In most countries,
genetically engineered plants come under the control
of regulatory government organizations. Working with
recombinant DNA techniques requires a degree of doc-
umentation and government approval to conduct such
research. Permits need to be obtained before geneti-
cally engineered plants can be 'released' that is grown in
the field, or greenhouses. Areas where field evaluations
have occurred, often have needed to be monitored for a
period of 2 to 3 years to make sure there are no detected
'or perceived environmental “risks” associated with the
presence of the introduced gene'.
However, there have been a number of public percep-
tion issues over the use of genetically modified organ-
isms, with a number of concerns being raised. Some
have been based on ill-informed and irrational scares
while others reflect the real uncertainty that surrounds
any new technology - particularly one that centres on
the essential feature of the life of any organisms - DNA.
These concerns and the issues that surround them are
important but cannot be given full justice here. But
what must be stressed is that any breeder needs to
take into account both the general prevailing scientific
knowledge as well as the general perception of the issues
involved. Both these aspects are changing rapidly at
present - as might be expected with such a new tech-
nology. Breeders are particularly well placed to help
clarify in their own minds, and hence inform others,
of the issues involved. They need to keep up-to-date
with what is being made possible by scientific discov-
ery, what it might enable them to do, what risks it
might present, what risk assessments need to be carried
out, what benefits it might confer and what needs to be
checked before they are happy to use particular genes
or types of genes. They must clearly be governed by the
scientific facts but they can also clearly identify risks and
benefits from their particular intimate knowledge of the
crop and its applications. But in the end, irrespective
of the science, if consumers are not prepared to buy the
product there is no point in the breeder proceeding!
As an example of one of the issues, most of our
crop species have close relatives that exist as weeds in
GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROP
PLANTS
Clearly there are biological, agricultural and practical
considerations associated with the use of Genetically
Modified Organisms (GMOs) and these have been
touched on earlier. However there are also other issues
that this new and exciting technology raises. These
issues include the concerns and worries that have been
raised in relation to scientific issues, risk assessment,
public concern and more general social aspects. It will
not be possible to cover all these here, nor would be
appropriate to try to encompass all that was neces-
sary in this forum. It is perhaps worth quoting what
might represent an attempt at providing a balanced
view of the situation, it is from a 1998 UK House
of Lords Select Committee stated in their 'Summary
of Conclusions and Recommendations' that ' Biotech-
nology in general and genetic modification in particular
offer great potential benefits to agriculture
...
. There are
potential risks relating to environment, including the
impact on the ecosystems of out-crossing, pest resistance
 
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