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Moderated conference on GMOs in the pipeline, hosted by the FAO Biotechnology Forum in 2012

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Tue, 6 Nov 2012 10:33:57 +0100
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My name is Didier Breyer. I have a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Liège (Belgium). Since 1995 I have been working as senior scientist in the Biosafety and Biotechnology Unit (SBB) of the Scientific Institute of Public Health (Brussels, Belgium). I am involved mainly in the scientific evaluation and administrative follow-up of biosafety dossiers, providing scientific support to the Belgian Biosafety Advisory Council and the Belgian Competent Authorities in particular regarding the environmental release of GMOs and the placing on the market of GMOs and derived products. I am also national focal point for the Biosafety Clearing-House of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

My question relates to the selection strategies that will be (or have been) used to develop new GMOs that are likely to be commercialized in developing countries within the next five years. As you know, in the production of genetically modified (GM) plants, the selection of the rare transformation events amongst the large number of non-transformants is a critical step. The use of antibiotic resistance marker genes (ARMGs) has been demonstrated to be very effective for this selection, cost-efficient and applicable to a large number of plant species, including many species relevant for developing countries. However, the use of ARMGs in transgenic plants is a controversial issue (specially in the European Union) and can represent an obstacle for the political/public acceptance and commercialization of GM plants.

Various strategies exist to avoid the presence of ARMGs in GM plants. They include the use of alternative selectable markers, as well as systems aiming at removing the ARMG from the genome of the GM plant following the initial transformation process. However, the effectiveness, cost-efficiency, biosafety and practical use of these strategies as compared to the use of ARMGs remains a matter of discussion.

I would be interested to know whether the presence of ARMGs in GM plants to be commercialized in developing countries has been considered an issue and whether alternative strategies have been envisaged and/or implemented. If yes, it might be interesting to have some indications on which types of alternatives have been successfully applied and/or on reasons (e.g. technical drawbacks) why alternatives have NOT been successfully applied.

Didier Breyer, Ph.D.
Chef de travaux - Senior scientist
Service de Biosécurité et Biotechnologie | Dienst Bioveiligheid en Biotechnologie (SBB)
Direction Opérationnelle Expertise, Prestations de service et relations clients |
Operationele Directie Expertise, Dienstverlening en Klantenrelaties

Rue Juliette Wytsmanstraat 14
1050 Brussels
Belgium
T 02 642 53 54 | F 02 642 52 92
e-mail: Didier.Breyer (at) wiv-isp.be

Institut Scientifique de Santé Publique
Wetenschappelijk Instituut Volksgezondheid
Scientific Institute of Public Health
www.wiv-isp.be
www.biosafety.be

[To contribute to this conference, send your message to [log in to unmask] For further information on this FAO Biotechnology Forum, see http://www.fao.org/biotech/biotech-forum/]

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