Feature: MSU Biotechnology Makes Global Impact

             Advances by MSU scientists in plant biotechnology can help solve global problems—without putting food at risk.

             Is the food you eat safe? This is not a question most Americans ask, but in recent months, as eco-terrorists—like those who took credit for setting fire to MSU’s Agriculture Hall (see Circle Drive)—make headlines across the country, the issue has surfaced all over the national media.

             In February, USA Today ran an editorial refuting the thesis that genetic engineering of plants has made food unsafe. Michigan State University, the nation’s premier land-grant university, has been at the forefront of helping food production since our founding in 1855. Our scientists have helped farmers in Michigan, around the country, and even around the world as the Green Revolution of the 1950s helped solve hunger problems in many countries. It is absurd to think that MSU would in any way, shape or form help to make food unsafe. It is time to refute much of the sensationalism one finds in the popular media, which have raised public fears with no basis in science.

             Today, MSU scientists from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) continue to push the frontiers of biotechnology. Agricultural scientists use a wide variety of traditional methods of whole plant breeding blended with emerging techniques of gene manipulation to develop new markets and products for GMO (genetically modified organisms) and non-GMO Michigan grown grains, fruits, ornamental plants, and forest products. Ian Gray, MAES director, predicts, 'Michigan agriculture will benefit from a world-class research program that uses all available technology.'

             Much confusion exists over the safety of plants developed through biotechnology or foods processed from GMO crops. The Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has not found GMO foodstuffs to be significantly different than non-GMO foodstuffs. The FDA requires labels on food components that are significantly different than the original plant product. They do not label the process used to develop the product. The availability of non-GMO labeled foodstuffs provides consumers with choices and opens new markets to Michigan farmers. Michigan is well positioned to produce and deliver a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, and grains produced through a range of production practices, such as organic produce, non-GMO products, or GMO commodities. Entrepreneurial farmers and marketers, who meet the diverse demands of global consumers, can capture these opportunities.

             In the broadest sense, humans have used genetic modification ever since our hunting and gathering ancestors saved seeds for planting the first cultivated fields. Plant breeders traditionally develop improved varieties by selecting superior individuals and crossing those parent plants. Biotechnology has provided a map to which genes control a desired trait and a means to ensure that the desired gene actually has been incorporated into the genetic code of a new breeding line. Thus, reducing the time involved in developing improved plant varieties and our ability to use the global genetic diversity found in cultivated and wild relatives of domesticated food crops. MAES scientists are focusing on improving the ability of plants to naturally resist cold weather, drought, insects and plant pathogens which will stabilize crop production in adverse environments and minimize the use of pesticides to control insect and disease pests through biotechnology.

             Research to enhance the nutritional makeup of field crops, vegetables, and fruits will provide consumers the opportunity to enhance their diets through more nutritious foods. 'Genetic engineering offers unique opportunities to improve many valuable characteristics of food crops that would be impossible through traditional breeding,” says an MSU researcher who uses both traditional and biotechnology approaches to improve Michigan crops. “The loss of this technology as a result of anti-science claims could have long-term negative effects on our ability to meet the food, feed and fiber needs of a nation and the world.'

             MSU is a national leader in the use of biotechnology to map the genomes of model and agronomic plants. Mapping the genetic code of plants to identify the function of specific genes opens the door to the insertion of a specific gene to accomplish a desired outcome. The majority of MSU’s biotechnology research involves gene probe directed breeding where a known gene is labeled so that plants from traditional plant breeding crosses with the desired gene can be quickly identified and retained for new variety development. The insertion of a desired gene from one species into the genetic code of another species is the most controversial form of biotechnology. The target transgenic plant retains the ability to reproduce and express the inserted gene in their offspring. MSU scientists use the full range of plant breeding techniques, including biotechnology, to increase the value of Michigan’s food and non-food plants.

             Everyone is a potential beneficiary of plant biotechnology. Lakes and streams by reduced erosion from less erosive crop production techniques, the use of lower amounts of pesticides or use of less persistent pesticides; beneficial insects by reduced insecticide applications; industry benefits from technology driven employment; US consumers by a low priced and abundant food supply and nutritional pharmaceutical products; and a starving third world population by increased food production and nutritionally enhanced foodstuffs.

             You can learn more about plant biotechnology and MSU’s role as a premier plant research institution by checking out MSU’s biotech web page (www.biotech.msu.edu).

editor's note: Gary Lemme, assistant vice provost and associate director of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, coordinates plant research within the Agricultural Experiment Station and facilitates efforts to inform the public on the use of biotechnology in agricultural research.