Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

OCT1 2012

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) is the world's most widely read biotech publication. It provides the R&D; community with critical information on the tools, technologies, and trends that drive the biotech industry.

Issue link: http://gen.epubxp.com/i/83770

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 9 of 89

Point of View Technophobia Continued from page 6 new variety could constitute a threat to other apple crops. The U.S. Apple Association (US- Apple), the industry's trade group, says that it "supports advancements from technology and genetics and genomics research," and that "benefits can include attributes such as quality…"—which would certainly include nonbrowning apples—but, paradoxically, USApple has also come out firmly against the introduction of the Arctic Apple. USApple has emphasized that its objec- tions are "not based on any concern about human health and safety," but "consumers like their apples and are not calling for these new 'nonbrowning' cultivars." How lame. Are consumers clamoring for apple cultivars that are more resistant to predation by in- sects, viruses, or fungi? There are several reasons why their con- cerns are unfounded. First, as described, farmers and plant breeders have been creating new varieties of apples for millennia. The new molecular techniques for accomplishing this are far more precise, predictable, and conservative. Second, there is vast experience in both cultivation and in our diets with recombinant DNA-modified varieties of various crops. Farmers in three dozen countries have cumula- tively cultivated more than 1.25 billion hectares Outperforming the Competition C-Flex® The C-Flex® family of tubing offers the widest range , a unique, patented sealable, weldable, thermoplastic elastomer has been specifically designed to meet the critical demands of the Single Use Biopharmaceutical Market. It has been the industry standard and the most widely validated thermoplastic elastomer tubing for the last 20 years. All C-Flex formulations are manufactured under GMP guidelines, meet USP Class VI standards, are animal-derived, component-free and are chemically resistant to acids and bases. C-Flex® of formulas and sizes in the industry. C-Flex® is able to be gamma irradiated and autoclaved and is available presterilized. Please visit us at the BPI Conference, Providence, Booth #725 and BioProduction 2012, Berlin, Stand #3. Pump Life, Hours @ 600 rpm 374 Comp A Comp B C-Flex® >160 HOURS ULTRA pump life >4x better than competitors C-Flex® ULTRA: > Longest Pump life in the industry > Lowest tubing wear which results in ultra low TOC extractables and particulates > Sealable and weldable to other C-Flex® C-Flex® formulations > Available in Bio-Simplex™ custom manifolds Braided: > Highest pressure rated TPE – 5x stronger than standard TPE's This sealer can be yours for free! Contact us for more information. www.biopharm.saint-gobain.com/media/G10D > Ultra-flexible, improved bend radius over non-reinforced tubing > Available in Bio-Simplex™ custom manifolds Tubing: > Superior sealing and welding > Widest range of sizes in the industry > Low gas permeability and protein absorption > Available in Bio-Simplex™ custom manifolds (about 3.75 billion acres) of them, and North Americans alone have consumed more than 3 trillion servings of food or ingredients from recombinant DNA-modified plants. There has never been a single documented case of disrup- tion of an ecosystem or harm to a person. Extensive global scientific research has iden- tified no unique health risks associated with re- combinant DNA-modified crops or food, and the apple growers associations (except perhaps the organic growers, who often seem to reside in a parallel universe) have no concerns about the safety of this nonbrowning apple. Could the new apple "contaminate" other varieties? Research has shown that the cross- pollination potential of apples is limited to about 150 feet. Beyond that distance, cross pollination of apples is virtually nil. The DNA in fruit comes from the parental tree, not the pollen that fertilizes the apple blos- som. When someone eats a Golden Delicious apple, 100% of the DNA (and protein, car- bohydrates, and other compounds) is from Golden Delicious trees. The entire apple industry owes the diver- sity of varieties to different gene expression patterns. A Golden Delicious apple looks and tastes different from a Red Delicious because different apple genes are expressed. Recent genomic sequencing shows there are about 57,000 genes in the Golden Delicious apple. One must look beyond the science to understand how the apple growers' associa- tions can be against new varieties of apples simply because four of the 57,000 apple genes have been turned off. The reason is short-sighted economics. A spokesperson for the Northwest Horticul- tural Council ascribed the apple industry's opposition to the potential for "severe ad- verse marketing issues to confront both or- ganic and traditional apple growers" if the Arctic Apple were to be introduced. The organic fruit industry is especially an- tagonistic to the Arctic Apple. They claim that the organic status of their fruit is threatened by cross-pollination from any recombinant DNA-modified apple and are calling for a ban on all such varieties. However, no organic grower has ever lost organic certification from exposure to trace amounts of recombinant DNA-modified seed or pollen, just as pesticide wafting onto organic crops from neighboring fields does not jeopardize organic status. "Organic" status is conferred if the grow- er agrees to use only a restricted set of tech- niques and practices but has nothing at all to do with the quality, safety, or characteristics of the product itself. Fear-mongering about recombinant DNA- modified crops has become the stock-in-trade of some antitechnology environmental organi- zations and the organic food industry. There- fore, apple growers and their trade groups fear the possibility that their products will no lon- ger be the "apple of the consumer's eye" be- cause of negative propaganda from the organ- WHAT DO YOU THINK? Send your comments to toliver@genengnews.com 8 | October 1, 2012 | genengnews.com | Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News - OCT1 2012