January 10, 2001

Last year's StarLink biotech corn episode has become something of a "double-edged sword" for wheat and rice researchers who are working to bring new benefits to producers and consumers through genetic modification.

Washington State University wheat specialist R. James Cook and USA Rice Chief Executive Officer Ellen Terpstra, speaking at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting, acknowledged biotech development in their respective food grains has trailed that in corn and soybeans.

The pair reported pioneering genetics work in wheat and barley disease prevention; nutritional enhancement of rice for developing world populations; and, introduction of genetic traits aimed at benefiting consumers sensitive to wheat or rice.

However, while controversy over recent detection of feed-only-approved StarLink insect-resistant corn in corn products and continuing consumer concerns about biotechnology have helped wheat and rice researchers chart the potential production and marketing pitfalls ahead of them, Cook is concerned public anxiety about existing biotech products could make it harder for the next string of genetic advancements to "get in the door." He cited growing reservations, particularly among some younger researchers, about a technology he himself believes to be "perfectly safe."

Cook said, "I think also that our industry folks who fund research are a little bit hesitant to go full-bore on this because of fear of losing their markets. Corn and soybeans, in a way, were lucky, in the sense that they got out first and they got into these markets before the door shut. Now, if you've never made it through the door in the first place, you have to first open that door before you go through. You have to realize that there is an opposition to biotechnology.

"We in the scientific community are quite frustrated. We feel that we've responded to everything thoughtfully, conscientiously, carefully, in our usual scientific way. To simply have our science discounted as of no value any more is like saying we're going to stop with the manual typewriter – we're not going to go to word processors."

Crop biotech work continues in two major directions: development of agronomic "input" traits such as insect, disease or herbicide resistance, primarily of benefit to farmers; and, exploration of genetic "output" traits that could offer improved food quality, safety or nutrition for consumers.

On the wheat input side, Cook and his colleagues are targeting "diseases we can't control through conventional breeding," including head blight, root rot and various viruses. Conventional breeding has been able to deal with only about 25% of the fungal diseases that affect diseases, he noted, and the move toward reduced tillage and pesticide use as well as the economic impracticalities of rotating fields out of wheat have driven research into genetic alternatives.

The Washington state scientist is equally enthusiastic about work to genetically modify wheat so that the approximately one in 120 Americans who suffer from a digestive sensitivity to wheat gluten would be able to eat bread products without fear of harmful reactions. Similar efforts are underway to develop "hypo-allergenic" rice that can address sensitivities, particularly in Japanese consumers.

Perhaps the most high-profile development in rice biotechnology and indeed development of beneficial output traits was the 1999 Swiss introduction of "golden rice," which incorporates genetic material from the daffodil to offer elevated levels of vitamin A. That's crucial to developing world populations that currently experience severe vitamin A deficiencies that can result in childhood blindness.

However, despite major funding for golden rice research by no less than the Rockefeller Foundation, Terpstra reported that, amid concerns about intellectual property ownership and theoretical allergy risks, "there is not a set calendar for release of golden rice." Researchers have entered a partnership with Zeneca, a major biotech company which since has joined with Novartis' ag division to form Syngenta AG, to address regulatory and legal challenges.

Aventis CropScience, which marketed StarLink this season, has developed a herbicide-resistant biotech rice that can be treated to eliminate red rice, an intrusive plant that surfaces in commercial fields, but Terpstra warned that product may not be released until at least 2003. The product is not approved for European or Japanese markets.

U.S. millers and end users have expressed concerns about genetically-modified rice, and in the wake of the StarLink episode, she said Aventis "will not release any seed into any market that isn't ready to accept it."

USA Rice, meanwhile, is attacking biotech challenges on a number of fronts, forming a technology task force to work with interests across the farm/food chain and maintaining ongoing dialogues with both biotech companies and international customers.

Terpstra outlined three major organizational goals for biotech development: Development of "identity protection" systems that can ensure biotech rice moves only into approved market channels, development of "realistic, science-based" tolerances for genetically-modified content in non-biotech grain or products, and a credible system for certifying the genetic status of commodities.

Because wheat is self-pollinating, Cook said the risks of biotech "contamination" of non-biotech crops via cross-pollination are not nearly as high as those faced by corn growers. However, the possibility of "out-crossing" in wheat does exist, and the scientist emphasized the need for science-based, real-world policies that recognize "Nature has her way of spreading her genes around.