triffid flax: a drama in three acts

~ Cami Ryan ~ Total Utilization of Flax Genomics

(TUFGEN)

University of Saskatchewan

VALGEN, Vancouver

March 2012

2

Act I

Triffid Flax

Act II

Triffid’s Demise

Act III

The Resurrection of Triffid

3

4

5 Source: FAO Stats

Canada

India

US

China

6

O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, [this Triffid],

A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!

Henry V, Act I

1989 1988 1994

Feed Approval

1996 1996/97

Food

Food/Feed

1998

8

‘Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord,

When men are unprepared [ for consumers’ response to GM]

and look not for it.

- Richard III, Act III -

9

Recall and crush organized

2000 2001

CDC Triffid deregistered

CDC Triffid transported/crushed/destroyed

10

What may this mean That thou, dead [Triffid] corse, again, in complete steel,

Revisit'st thus …

- Hamlet, Act I -

11

July 2009

Sept 2009

16K tonnes in quarantine

Oct 2009

Testing!!!!

12

13 Data Source: Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture (2011)

NPTII marker discovered

FP967 notification on RASFF

Launch of Stewardship Protocol

14 Source: Viju etal 2011

15

Canada:

EU:

$30,000,000 (CDN) $52,000,000 (CDN)

(calculations based on: Ryan & Smyth 2011; Dayananda 2011) ; (COCERAL Report 2011)

> $80,000,000

16

17

“…often gain quick acceptance …and on occasion they do have direct impacts on

government policy...”

Paarlberg and Pray (2008)

18

19

20

S. Somers on GM Foods: “fake” and "loaded with toxins, chemicals”

21

“GMO health risks and their impact on our most precious resource - our children”

22

Klaus Ammann

Questions? Comments? Questions? Comments?

Cami Ryan Departments of Plant Science & Bioresource Policy, Business and Economics

University of Saskatchewan

Twitter me @DocCamiRyan

Blog: http://doccamiryan.wordpress.com/

24

Acknowledgements: Stuart Smyth

TUFGEN team VALGEN SaskFlax

Flax Council of Canada