Understanding biotechnology

By Henrylito D. Tacio
By 2020, the world will be home to around 7.5 billion people. And by that year, the 30-million hectares of the Philippines will be occupied by 122 million Filipinos, according to demographers.
Every second, three people are born, the United Nations Population Fund reports. Every 7.67 seconds, one hectare of productive land is lost, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“Unless we are ready to accept starvation, or place parks and the Amazon basin under the plow, there really is only one good alternative: Discover ways to increase food production from existing resources,” points out Martina Newell-McGloughlin, director of the Biotechnology Research and Education Program of the University of California Systemwide.
Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1970, shared the same view. “Global food security will not disappear without the effective application of new technology,” he said. “To ignore this reality will make future solutions to food security all the more difficult to achieve.”
Biotechnology (which comes from the two combined words: “bio,” which stands for biology or the science of life; and “technology,” the tools and techniques used to achieve a particular purpose) has been seen as one possible solution to the forthcoming world hunger.
As defined, biotechnology is the manipulation of biological organisms to make products that benefit human beings. Its definition evolved through times and so its context and scope. Over 10,000 years ago, humans produced wine, beer, vinegar and bread using microorganism through the process now known as fermentation. Using advanced fermentation process, Egyptians were able to create 50 varieties of bread.
In recent years, with the advances in cell and molecular biology, biotechnology emerged from classical or traditional to modern or advanced biotechnology. Today, biotechnology is closely associated with genetic engineering, a high-end science seen by many as having tremendous potential to increase agricultural productivity. “Biotechnology is by default our best and, maybe, only way to increase production to meet future food needs,” says Dr. McGloughlin.
Modern biotechnology, when used among crops, allows a scientist to choose and move the single characteristic he wants — it’s streamlined, efficient, and produces superior results. “The techniques used in modern plant biotechnology provide plant breeders with precise tools that permit them to introduce desirable characteristics into a plant,” explains a fact sheet published by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).
“They do so without having unwanted or extra traits that occur with traditional plant breeding,” the ISAAA fact sheet adds. “Because of the control that’s afforded with plant biotechnology, scientists can examine introduced traits in great detail.”
In 1994, Calgene’s delayed-ripening tomato became the first genetically modified (GM) food crop to be produced and consumed in an industrialized country. Since then, several GM food crops are introduced or currently being studied.
In the near future, the following crops will be available: rice enriched with iron, vitamin A and E, and lysine; potatoes with higher starch content and inulin; edible vaccines in corn, banana, and potatoes; corn varieties with low phytic acid and increased essential amino acids; healthier oils from soybean and canola; and allergen-free nuts.
As early as the mid-1970s, the Philippine government has recognized the potential role of biotechnology in achieving sustained economic development and food security. In 1979, the National Institutes of Microbiology and Biotechnology (BIOTECH) was set up at the University of the Philippines at Los Baños.
During her term, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued a memorandum on July 16, 2001 stipulating the promotion of “the safe and responsive use of modern biotechnology and its products as one of the several means to achieve and sustain food security, sustainable and safe environment…”
But biotechnology is not only applied in food production — even in medicine and industrial processes. Erythropoietin is one of the first biotechnological drugs; it triggers the production of new red blood cells. In industrial processes, there’s laundry detergents whose new enzymes could help remove oily and protein-based stains.
“The principal challenge in biotechnology research is how to realize the promise of benefits and advantages from this cutting-edge technology for developing countries,” said Dr. Estrella F. Alabastro, when she was still the head of the Department of Science and Technology.
But all is not rosy, however. “I believe that this kind of genetic modification takes mankind into realms that belong to God, and to God alone,” commented Philip Arthur George Charles — more popularly known as Prince Charles — in 1998.
“By transferring genes across species barriers which have existed for eons,” said Dr. Peter Wills, a theoretical biologist at Auckland University, “we risk breaching natural thresholds against unexpected biological processes.”
One potential risks of biotechnology is out-crossing, the unintentional breeding of domestic crop with a related plant. In 1999, it was also reported that pollen from biotech corn had a negative impact on Monarch butterfly larvae. Another concern is that biotech crops may lead to the development of insect resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a common soil bacterium.
Then, there’s that question about allergen (a protein that causes an allergic reaction) from GM foods which could be accidentally introduced into a food product.
Some GM crops contain genes for a trait called antibiotic resistance. Scientists use this trait as a market to identify cells into which the desired gene has been successfully introduced. Concerns have been raised that these marker genes could move from GM crops to microorganisms that normally reside in a person’s gut and lead to an increase in antibiotic resistance.
Prof. Vincent Titanji, a Cameroonian biotechnologist and vice chancellor of the Cameroon Christian University, contends that the benefits of GM crops are greater than any negative effects they might have in the future.
“Remember that (when) fire was discovered, it was both useful and harmful,” Prof. Titanji was quoted as saying by Inter Press Service. “I have been in the domain of bioengineering for over 30 years and none of the predicted effects have materialized. It was predicted that weeds will invade the entire ecosystems of countries like Brazil, the United States, South Africa, and China, which produce GMOs massively. Even the toxic substances predicted have not materialized.”
On the potential risks of biotech crops on the environment, ISAAA has this answer: “The environmental and ecological concerns potentially associated with GM crops are evaluated prior to their release. In addition, post-approval monitoring and good agricultural systems need to be in place to detect and minimize potential risks, as well as to ensure GM crops continue to be safe after their release.”
As to the health issues, the Geneva-based World Health Organization gives this assurance: “The potential direct health effects of GM foods are generally comparable to the known risks associated with conventional foods, and include, for example, the potential of allergenicity and toxicity of components present, and the nutritional quality and microbiological safety of the food.”
“Despite the current uncertainty over GM crops, one thing remains clear,” the ISAAA fact sheet claims. “This technology, with its potential to create economically important crop varieties, is simply too valuable to ignore. There are, however, some valid concerns. If these issues are to be resolved, decisions must be based on credible, science-based information.”