exploding myths on genetically modified organisms: whatever … · 2016-06-03 · exploding myths...

AAAS Vancouver, 18/02/2012 1

Exploding Myths on Genetically Modified Organisms:

Whatever Crops Up: Solving Real Problems in Every Season

Dr Guy Van den EedeEuropean Commission Joint Research Centre


Scene-Setting

Key Myths

Fact: discourses of GMO proponents and opponents often lack solid science-base grounds; science does not speak with one voice;I will reveal the first myth on confusing terminology and misperception about what GMOs are and aren’t.

Fact: technological advancement cannot be stopped;I will reveal the second myth that GMOs can be prohibited.

Fact: government decisions are ultimately political with science just one element in decision-making;I will argue that scientists must learn to use the established channels for providing policy advice more effectively.


The Institute of Radiation Breeding in Hitachiohmiya, Japan:A Cobalt-60 source, ringed by a breeding crop field and a high shield dike around the perimeter.

Picture: www.ediblegeography.com

The path and power of BIO-INNOVATION


The variety Calrose 76 accounted for half the rice grown in California.

First conclusion:The GMO debate misses the interconnectivity between decades-long developments: bio-innovation has been the cornerstone of the Green Revolution

(*) Picture and Source from www.ediblegeography.com

The path and power of BIO-INNOVATION

X-rayed (“Atomic Energized”) peanuts.

AAAS Vancouver, 18/02/2012 5…Do they?

GMO’s don’t follow the rules of evolution

The double helix as discovered by Watson and Crick in 1953

The double helix in modern society:The business of science


Genetic Engineering consists of taking the DNA from one organism and expressing it in another organism, hereby often crossing the genetic barriers between species. The result is a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO).

GMOs themselves are subject to evolution.

GMOs: A Revolution in Evolution


Exploding Myths

What GMOs are not...Examples of confusing terminology

and widespread misperceptions


Cloning ≠

GMO

Yet, stating the obvious surprises many …

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Guardian/gallery/image/0,8543,-10504328739,00.html




Media Influence


Fact:

When a cow eats genetically modified maize, it does not become a genetically modified cow;Fact:

When a chicken, that was fed with genetically modified

maize lays an egg, that egg is not genetically modified.

Cause ≠

Effect


GMO Cultivation

What GMOs certainly are:• Part of a global approach to tackle problems in food supply;• The fastest adopted crop technology in the history of modern

agriculture: an 87-fold increase since 1996 (1.7 million hectares) compared to (148 million hectares) in 2010;

• Set to increase: commercial GM technologies currently number 30 worldwide but are predicted to reach 120 by 2015;

• Moreover, GM ‘events’ can easily be combined ("stacked") by conventional cross-breeding, thus creating more "new" GMOs (JRC report).


What are the barriers to GMOs?

Examples of risks, risk assessment, public perception and governance


Challenges to adapt current legal systems

• safety of laboratory workers;• moral acceptability;• scientific entrepreneurs;• patentability of of life;• numerous non GMO food safety scandals;• Metaphorical and rhetorical discourses.

It remains a huge challenge to take the wide range of societal concerns seriously in both communication and decision-making.

An NGO-expert:

“The reality behind the myth: GE maize poses a serious threat to the environment, animal and human health.”

http://www.kellog.org/

http://www.gmfreebritain.com/

“GMO-free”

municipalities in Flanders, Belgium

Declaring oneself GMO-free

http://old.velt.be/DossierGGO/ggovrijegemeentenkaart.jpg

Discussions in Vatican CityNovember, 2003


Europe Today:GM bacteria, viruses etc. for pharmaceutical purposes ☺GM bacteria for industrial applications ☺GM crops for agricultural purposes

Rest of the World Tomorrow:GM animals, including fish, insects etc.

Myth that GMOs can be somehow de-inventedOn the contrary, the application of the technology will never end, it will be applied more intensively.

GM-technology…

… here to stay?


Where is the scientific reasoning?Society A: GMOs are safe

unless proven unsafe

Society B: GMOs are unsafe

unless proven safe

Society C: GMOs are unsafe

even if proven safe

Society D: GMOs are unsafe

especially if proven safe

Society E: GMOs are safe

even if proven unsafe

(Taken from A. Golikov)

Biosafety

…

…and the public

AAAS Vancouver, 18/02/2012 22_____________________________________________________________________________________________

“Approvals of GMOs in the European Union”. Report available from EuropaBio.

22

Member States voting against European Food Safety Authority scientific opinion

Analysis: EU authorisation voting

The chart shows that 10 countries vote against the EFSA scientific opinion more than 63% of the time.


Are GMOs really safe?In the EU safety is assured by a set of stringent regulations aiming at the protection of human

and animal health and the environment.


Salient points of EU regulation

• A rigorous safety assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA);

• Post-market monitoring;• Labelling of GMOs and derived food and

feed products at all stages (when present above 0.9%);

• Traceability from the point of production or import down to the table and vice versa;

• Co-existence between organic, traditional and GM plant from the seed throughout the production chain.

A strict regulation with a strong consumers’

involvement:


Are GMOs per se safe?

The case of Maize Bt10 shows the need for vigilance

Syngenta: “the primary difference between Bt10 and Bt11 is that the same DNA was inserted into different portions of the plant's genome, but the proteins created by the process remained identical”.

The JRC found the genetic modification of event Bt10 to be very complex in structure, with rearrangements, inversions, and multiple copies of the structural elements (cry1Ab, pat, and the amp gene), interspersed with small genomic maize fragments.


The in-housescience service

"The mission of the Joint Research Center is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies.

As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Union.

Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of special interests, whether private or national."

Joint Research Centre


IRMM – Geel, BelgiumWorld leader Certified Reference Materials and bio-metrology with 25 GMO Certified Reference Materials available.

IHCP– Ispra, ItalyS/T support for the implementation of GMO legislation, European Union Reference Laboratory for GM Food and Feed.(> 80% of all reference methods have been validated here)

IPTS – Seville, SpainBiotechnology foresight: Assuring that policy-making copes with the speed of scientific development; providing advice on the costs and benefits of action or non-action.

Research-based policy support in the GMO area is a pan-JRC activity: three Institutes involved

Pan-European Monitoring


All 27 EU (+ Norway, Switzerland) are members and member states’ national networks are associated (> 100 participating laboratories):

The European Network of GMO Laboratories

• Covers sampling, interpretation of thresholds, quantification of GMOs, method uncertainty, reference materials, unapproved GMOs, etc.

• Chaired by the JRC;

• Links with International Standardisation Bodies

ENGL


The European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL-GMFF)

It is unique in the worlds’ GMO regulatory and control processes;Operations are carried out, aligned with the European Food Safety Authority;It has a crucial role in (dis)approval of methods that are “fit for the purpose of regulatory compliance”;> 60 dossiers validated;It has a role in disputes and in response to crises;It carries out extensive training programs.

http://gmo-crl.jrc.it/doc/annex 29_06_2006.pdf


• Starlink

Bt maize (2001)

• Bt10 maize (2005)

• LLRICE601 rice (2006)

• Bt 63 rice (2008)

• DAS-59132-8 (Event 32 or E-32) maize (2008)

• CDC Triffid

Flax (Event FP967) (2009)

• 2010 –

2011: multiple unapproved GM rice from Chinese origin

The role of the CRL-GMFF in response to emergencies and crises related to the spread of GMOs in the EU market

Keeping a close watch

http://gmo-crl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/


Conclusions

1. The GMO debate misses the profound interconnectivity between decades- long advances: bio-innovation has been the cornerstone of the Green Revolution;

2. GMOs are a REVOLUTION in the EVOLUTION and are here to stay;

3. No food-feed has undergone a safety assessment anything similar to GMOs;

4. GMOs are one part of a global approach to tackle problems in food supply;

5. Societal concerns seriously influence science-based decision-making: government decisions are ultimately political with science just one element in decision-making.

Greater integrity, openness, clarity and public engagement is needed from global policy-makers on GMOs ….

But a lot needs to be done to inform citizens that:

Thank you for your interest [email protected]

http://gmo-crl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

exploding myths on genetically modified organisms: whatever … · 2016-06-03 · exploding myths...

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