Often Asked Questions About Plant Biotechnology:

1. What is plant biotechnology?

· Plant bBiotechnology is a process to produce a genetically modifiedn improved plant by removing genetic information from an organism, manipulating it in the laboratory and then the transferring it into a plant to change certain of its characteristics. The source of the genetic information can be any living organism of genes from one organism into another organism to produce a specific trait in the improved plant.

2. Are the foods produced commercially from biotech plants safe?

· Yes. FYes. The foods from biotechnology are tested very rigorously and must meet the same rigorous food standards as other foods. (In the U.S., biotech crops have had more testing done than conventionally produced any other crops.)

3. Who does the testing?

· The U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible for one aspect of the regulatory approval of the plants produced through biotechnology; they are responsible for movement of the plants and how field tests of the plants are conductedthe specific plant application integrates into the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for pesticide and environmental issues and some food safety issues. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for food safety. Other cCountries have their own safety agencies and requirements. Although the safety testing is conducted for the most part by the company wishing to market the food, these three federal agencies are responsible for reviewing the data. Because the products are produced and tested through standarduniversal accepted scientific research methodology, some of the testing is validated by scientists can peer reviewed, the work of each other third party research.

4. What are some of the assessments are done?

· Mechanism of action test-a study to see what the protein added to the plant actually doesis intended to do.

· Digestibility study-to see how quickly the added protein is broken down inside the gut.

· Bioinformatics screening on the protein-to screen for similarities to known allergens and toxins.

· Acute oral toxicity study-a toxicology study in which the added protein is fed in its pure form to mice at an exposure rate 1000 times higher than humans would ever encounter.

· Food Composition study-measures the key nutritional components (protein, vitamins, oils, starch, and fiber) and compares that composition it to othercomparable varieties to see there is no change in key ingredients (substantial equivalence).to wholesomeness.

· Non-target animal studies of pesticidal proteins-determine if the protein and/or the plant has any toxic effects on desirable insects and/or animals in the ecosystem.

5. Why do we need Pplant Bbiotechnology? Don’t we already produce more food than we can market?

· Food production is not secure everywhere in the world-especially as we look at future population growth. Not all familiar foods are nutritionally adequate. We can increase the nutritional quality, make plants drought tolerant, or make plants capable of growing in high salt soil. We can also produce plants that can protect themselves from insects or disease with less environmental impact. We can increase the nutritional quality, make plants drought tolerant, make plants capable of growing in high salt soil. Many of the desired modifications for flavor, color, shipping and storage quality can be enhanced through plant biotechnology. Farmers gain from decreased cost of production, use of less pesticides and/or more environmentally friendly pesticides.

6. Will pests develop resistance to the biotech crop innovations?

· This is one of the issues on which that both the Departments of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency require scientific research before commercialization can proceed. These agencies establish Different cultural practices that are designed to slow have been developed to help prevent such an eventthe development of resistance. These include the concept of a-such as “refuge” areas in biotech fields, which are planted with insect-susceptible crops.to biotech insect resistant crops. The Refuge area provides a field area of traditional crop planted next to the biotech crop. Some insects will feed in the traditional crop area, serving as a source of susceptible genetic insect mates and slowing the development of resistant pests. Each biotech application is approved on a case by case basis so that specific precautions can be designed to mitigate the development of problems.to avoid harm.

7. Will cross-pollination make for resistant weeds (superweeds) or destroy food sources for of other beneficial insects.

· Each plant biotech application is researched for this issue. Of course for natural pollination to occur, the same plant family would have to be in the vicinity of the biotech crop being grown. The life cycle of the two plants would have to coincide for pollination to take place. If cross-pollination did occur, will the pollination result in harm? It depends on the nature of the gene. In the case of an organic farmer, it might result in problems since they do not allow genes introduced by biotechnology to be in their crops. If the gene is responsible for herbicide tolerance, it could result in a closely related variety becoming herbicide tolerant. If this variety is a weed, it could mean that the grower has to change weed control strategies. But farmers have had to deal with these types of issues Pesticide resistance happens with traditional plants, and pests and spray drift and have developed methods to mitigate their effects.so farmers have experience in this issue.

8. Is biotech corn harmful to the Monarch butterfly?

· Corn pollen is not a food for the Monarch bButterflyy itself, rather for the larval stage of the butterfly. The larvae could ingest the pollen when eating leaves from the milkweed plant that grows in or near corn fields. This was only an issue for pollen shed from corn plants modified to contain the insecticidal Bt gene. But often the pollen is not shed at the same time as larval feeding, the pollen density is not high enough to cause effects or the particular corn variety does make much Bt in its pollen. -it is difficult for the butterfly to accidentally ingest enough pollen to be harmful while it is feeding on the milkweed plant. It is not likely that pollination would happen during the flight time of the butterfly, or that many milk weed plants would be found in cornfields or that the pollen will rest on the surface of the milkweed plant leaf before wind and rain would remove it. In the original test that demonstrated a problem, larvae were force to eat the pollen by being enclosed in a Petri dish with only one diet choice. A fFollow-up studiesy conducted at several Mid-western Universities concluded that the Monarch is in greater danger from traditional insecticides used in crop production than it is from biotech corn pollen.

9. Is a “Terminator Gene” being used to prevent farmers from re-planting their harvested seeds?

· No. At this time there is no such gene being used in the biotech commercial crops. Someday it may be desirable to incorporate such sterile seed technology to give added assurance that cross-pollination is not going to occur. However, several factors stopped the development of the so-called “terminator gene”, including Cconcern over farmers in developing nations not being able to replant their seed and having to purchase seed from companies each year.in their ability to afford the new technology stopped the development of the “terminator” gene.

10. Why are farmers required to sign an agreement not to replant harvested seed for the next season’s crop?

· The companies producing the seed are protecting their development costs and intellectual property. This is not the first time that such a restriction impinged farmers’ ability to replant seed. To achieve optimal yields, fFarmers have to purchased fresh corn seed since the development of hybrid corn each year. Many soybean farmers also purchase fresh seed each year as a matter of good agronomic practice and economics of production. In these cases and in the case of biotech crops, Ffarmers will only purchase the seed as long as it offers a benefit greater that the cost.

11. Will biotech cross-pollination be a problem for my certification as “organic produce”?

· If there is to be value added due to a particular certification program, it will be necessary for the grower of the value added product to insure certification requirements. In the case of the label “organic”, it is now a federal mandate that it cannot contain genes from biotech crops. Therefore, to avoid this, Ssome crops will require barrier rows, or planting date differences between different crops. Handling, transport, storage and processing will need to be kept separate-an additional cost.

12. Are Organic foods better? Is Organic farming better? Why not grow only Organic?

· Organic is an alternative method of food production. Published Sscientific research willdoes not support that organic food is safer, more nutritious or even has more flavor, although there have been claims to this effect. The selection of the variety, proper growing practices, and harvest time may be contributing to some of the testimonials. Home gardening is usually not about economics of production, thus growing organic or “almost organic” gives a family many benefits such as exercise, assurance of growing their food as they like it, and something the family can do together. Many people buy organic believing they will be less exposed to pesticides since certain pesticides cannot be used in organic production. One of the issues for many is that commercial organic production is not as efficient as other types of food production, thereby potentially requiring more land to produce the same amount of food.

13. Will biotech food increase my risk of food allergies?

· Food safety is important. The FDA requires tests to determine if any known allergens (proteins) are introduced into biotech foods. present in biotech food. If such a protein were present or if the source of the gene were from a known allergenic source, like peanut or wheat, federal regulation dictate that this must be stated on theit would have to be included on a label. However, strict assurances of nonallergenicity with biotech foods, as well as with conventional foods, isstrict assurances of nonallergenicity with biotech foods, as well as with conventional foods, are difficult. For example, many naturally occurring foods contain components that cause human allergies. The kiwi fruit was introduced into the U.S. decades ago with no known allergies associated with its consumption. Today there are individuals who are allergic to kiwi fruits and some of them have cross-allergies to latex.

To date, no known allergen proteins have been used in any commercial foods.

14. What about StarLink Corn-wasn’t it recalled in some taco shell products?

· A European company received EPA and FDA permission to market their seed corn for livestock feed but not for human consumption. The FDA required further testing before it would give approval to market the corn for use as human food because of the slow digestion rate of the protein in that variety of biotech corn. Slow digestibility is one hallmark of an allergen, but some nonallergenic foods are also digested slowly. Before the testing could be done, Ssome of the corn got into the food supply channels and into some taco shells. Since it had not been approved for human food-it was recalled., Follow-up blood tests by the Center for Disease Control determined there was low probability that it would be allergenic and no evidence of Starlink was found in any of the food that a few consumers claimed made them sick.the corn was an allergen. Because of this problemSince then, FDA has stated thjatthat it will not approve crops for animal consumption only.

requires that all crops that are approved must be approved for human food use before they can be commercialized. American biotech companies had always followed this practice.

15. Should biotech foods be labeled?

· Currant law requires a label if the food is substantially changed in nutritional content, digestibility, or is allergenic. A person’s right to know is very important. However, the goal is to convey the necessary information on nutrient content and safety without causing unwarranted concern or fear. How something is produced is interesting to some people- but to many the main concern is basic safety. Certified Organic food is not biotech derived from biotech crops. It offers an alternative. Expense in labeling is also a consideration along with how to word the label and be fair.

16. Why is Europe reluctant to accept biotechnology? Some people in the U.S. are also anti-biotech, why is this?

· In the late 1990’s Europe experienced several food safety scares relating to mad cow disease and dioxin contamination. The manner in which governments in Europe responded to these issues did not instill confidence of consumers that the governments could assure food safety. Therefore they were nervous that the governments could not really assure safety of the new biotech foods. Of course, Aacceptance of any new technology is about Rrisk vs. bBenefit. If a person believes there is greater risk than he/she will get in benefit, then it is difficult to accept change. Others are against the “industrialization of agriculturale production” and see small, independent farms as the ideal way of farming. There is growing concern that some countries are using the issue of safety as a trade/tariff barrier-rather than a real concern over safety. Others want a greater, more comprehensive method of safety testing than we use today.

17. What crops have been produced through biotechnology?

· Crops produced commercially today in the U.S. that were developed through biotechnology include canola, corn, cotton, soybeans and papaya. Some other crops, like squash, potato and tomato, are no longer being grown commercially. Many other crops have been field-tested but not grown for commericalcommercial production. The list of these crops can be found at http://www.nbiap.vt.edu/cfdocs/fieldtests1.cfm

The leading crops in the U.S. include; Corn, Soybeans, Cotton, Canola, and Papaya. Sugar Beets, Sweet Potato, Potato, Squash, Tomato, Chicory, Carnation, Bananas, and Cassava are a few other crops that have been grown around the world. The horticulture industry is researching flowers, trees, and grass.

18. Are genes from a fish actually moved into vegetables?

· To date, only genes from bacteria or other plants have been moved into commercially available crops. Genes are composed of the same chemical composition regardless of where they are found. It is possible to move genes from any species into another species. To date, only genes from bacteria or other plants have been moved into commercially available crops. plants. One report of a fish gene from an arctic flounder being moved into a tomato was reported in the scientific literature, but this was never commercialized. The idea behind the experiment was to see whether the mechanism that allows the flounder to survive cold temperatures could be transferred to a vegetable.

196. Who has spoken out on biotech acceptance?

· United States Department of Agriculture

· Food and Drug Administration

· Environmental Protection Agency

· APHIS

· Health and Welfare of Canada

· Japan MHW

· World Health Organization

· European Scientific Committee for Food

· International Food Information Council

· American Dietetic Association

· Food and Agriculture Organization of thee United Nations

· Biotechnology Industry Organization