Genes and Our Food

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Genes and Our Food

• Past, present and future

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Science is used to improve our food supply

• And he gave it for his opinion, that whoever
  could make two ears of corn, or two blades of
  grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only
  one grew before, would deserve better of mankind,
  and do more essential service to his country,
  than the whole race of politicians put together.
  
• Jonathan Swift in Gullivers
  Travels

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Science is used to improve our food supply

• All food comes from living organisms
• Genetics can be used to improve the plants and
  animals we eat
• Many people are not aware of these facts
• Ordinary Tomatoes Do Not Contain Genes, while
  Genetically Modified Ones Do

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Ordinary Tomatoes Do Not Contain Genes, while
Genetically Modified Ones Do
1996 - 1998
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We have genetically modified food for thousands
of years

• The earliest farmers and gardeners saved seeds of
  the very best plants to start the next growing
  season
• By doing this, they unknowingly selected plants
  with the more desirable genes

Assyrian mural from 870 BC showing palm
pollination
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Domestication of corn
9000 Years Ago
Teosinte
Corn
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Domestication of lettuce
4,500 Years Ago
Leaf Lettuce
Prickly lettuce
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Domestication of carrot
1,100 to 300 Years Ago

• Orange carrots
• appeared in Holland
• in the 1700s

Queen Annes Lace
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Brassica oleracea
Wild cabbage
Ornamental kale Late 1900s
Kohlrabi Germany, 100 AD
Cauliflower 1400s
Kale, 500 BC
Broccoli Italy, 1500s
Cabbage, 100AD
Brussel sprouts Belgium, 1700s
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Some crops never existed in nature

• Wheat, Triticum aestivum
• Triticum urartu X Aegilops speltoides
• 2n14 2n14
• Triticum turgidum X Aegilops tauschii
• 2n28 2n14
• Triticum aestivum
• 2n42

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Biotechnology In Agriculture
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Major uses of biotechnology

• Making maps of plant and animal chromosomes using
  technology developed for the Human Genome Project
• Using our knowledge to add new genetic
  information to plants and animals

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How is this information obtained?

• Set of techniques that allow us to "read" genes

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Old and New Approaches to Plant Improvement
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Current Crops with Biotech Traits
Commercial Products Benefits
to Growers / Consumers

• Herbicide Tolerance - Lower grower cost
• (corn, soy, cotton, canola) - Reduced herbicide
  residues
• - Enables no-till
• - Simplicity / flexibility
• Insect/Corn Borer Resistance - Lower grower costs
• (corn, cotton, potato) - Reduced pesticide
  usage - Decreased molds
• - Higher yields
• - Simplicity

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Current Crops with Biotech Traits
Commercial Products Benefits
to Growers / Consumers

• Virus Resistance - Lower cost
• (potato, papaya) - Higher quality foods
• - Less acres used
• Delayed Ripening - Higher quality food products -
  Longer shelf-life

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Biotech Benefits and Risks

• Decreasing reliance on pesticides
• Insect resistance management
• Gene flow and outcrossing
• Non-target organisms
• Human, wildlife and environmental health
• Preserving genetic diversity in plants and
  animals
• Economic

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Potential of crop biotechnology
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Genetically Enhanced Plants The Next Generation
Situation So Far
Future Trend
Focus on improved processing "Thinking in
applications"
Focus on improved farming "Thinking in crops"
Functionality of crops or components
Customer needs
Crop
Customer
Source The Boston Consulting Group modified
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Biotech Foods and Health

• Enhanced protein and essential
  nutrients prevent disease
• Vitamin A to prevent childhood blindness
• Increased calories and nutrients to prevent
  malnutrition
• Increasing food availability by reducing spoilage

golden rice
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Healthier Foods

• Added Nutrients
• wheat
• rice
• Reducing Natural Food Toxins

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Fighting Hunger

• Improving yields of food staples
• Controlling insects
• Controlling crop diseases
• bananas
• cassava
• sweet potato virus
• Greater salt tolerance

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Food Security

• Increasing crop productivity to meet growing
  global food needs
• Increasing crop productivity of staple foods rich
  in protein and calories
• Increasing access to a healthy, diverse diet

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What will the future bring?
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Foods as Medicine Delivery System

• Vaccines
• human
• veterinary

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Foods as Medicine Delivery System

• Benefits of food as a Drug Delivery System
• reduced expense
• low tech easy to deliver
• reduced spoilage - no refrigeration
• Vaccines
• Enhanced protein and essential
  nutrients prevent disease

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Other uses of biotech

• Over 100 drugs on the market developed with
  biotech
• Bioremediation
• Industrial biotech
• Improved enzymes in chemical, textile,
  pharmaceutical, metal, and energy industries
• Starch and grain processing
• Sweeteners
• Ethanol

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Other uses of biotech

• Coffee is decaffeinated by solvent extraction
• Concern about safety and flavor
• Engineer to be decaffeinated
• Also can make uniform ripening

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Other uses of biotech

• Nicotine-free tobacco
• Low lignin spruce trees for paper production

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Industrial uses

• Cleaning industry
• Detergent proteases
• Textile industry
• Finishing cloth
• Better cotton fibers
• Paper and pulp industry
• Processing with biotech, environmentally friendly
  chemicals