Alexander J. Stein

How to build a Mars colony that lasts – forever - New Scientist (2013)

“Mars can’t just be a one-shot mission,” says Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon. He’s part of a group who met last week in Washington DC for the first Human to Mars Summit, or H2M. The astronauts, researchers and space flight firms aim to chart a path to the Red Planet by 2030.

And they are thinking beyond mere visits. Though it won’t be easy, they say establishing a permanent, sustainable outpost on the Red Planet may be our civilisation’s only chance of long-term continuity. “Single-planet species don’t survive,” says former astronaut John Grunsfeld, who still works at NASA. “That’s a pretty sound theorem – just look at the dinosaurs. But we don’t want to prove it.” 

As the only other planet in the solar system we are likely to be able to settle on, Mars looks like the best first step towards establishing an off-Earth foothold. But making Mars a sustainable destination will require a few advances beyond those needed for one-off trips… 

Assuming a large enough base can be built, the next challenge will be a sustainable food supply. Growing vegetables is an option, but plants may need to deal with higher radiation, low air pressure and reduced gravity. If Mars gardeners are to use Martian soil, a knowledge of how crops respond to its contents, such as sulphates and perchlorates will be required.

To get around any difficulties, genetically modified crops may come in useful, says Robert Ferl, director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research at the University of Florida in Gainesville: “This is the era of understanding what happens to organisms at the genetic level.”

We now know the patterns of gene expression behind how many plants on Earth assimilate key nutrients such as sulphates. This could eventually allow the right genes to be added to crops bound for Mars. Terrestrial plants growing in extreme places could also be adapted or mined for their hardier genes… 

Careless food storage sidelines Swaziland’s hungry - IRIN (2013)

Mounds of food aid intended for Swaziland’s food insecure were recently found rotting in the government’s main storage warehouses at the Matsapha Industrial Estate, about 25km east of the capital, Mbabane. 

According to a March 2013 briefing by the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS), “Approximately 116,000 persons are currently estimated to be food insecure, up 31 percent from the previous year.” 

The spoiled food was discovered earlier this month by parliamentarian Eric Matsebula after his constituents in rural Mayiwane, in the Hhohho Region, some 60km north of Mbabane, complained they were going hungry… 

The revelations come several months after it was discovered the cash-strapped administration of King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, sold maize donatedby the Japanese government for US$3 million and deposited the money in the Central Bank of Swaziland. The proceeds from the sale were then used by government officials for other expenditures…

Bee and wild flower biodiversity loss slows - U Leeds (2013)

Declines in the biodiversity of pollinating insects and wild plants have slowed in recent years, according to a new study. Researchers led by the University of Leeds and the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre in the Netherlands found evidence of dramatic reductions in the diversity of species in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands between the 1950s and 1980s.

But the picture brightened markedly after 1990, with a slowdown in local and national biodiversity losses among bees, hoverflies and wild plants. 

Professor Bill Kunin, Professor of Ecology at the University of Leeds, said: “Most observers have been saying that the 1992 Rio Earth Summit targets to slow biodiversity loss by 2010 failed, but what we are seeing is a significant slowing or reversal of the declines for wild plants and their insect pollinators.

“These species are important to us. About a third of our food production, including most of our fruit and vegetables, depends on animal pollination and we know that most crop pollination is done by wild pollinators. Biodiversity is important to ensuring we don’t lose that service. Relying on a few species could be risky in a changing environment,” he added.

The study, published in the journal Ecology Letters, found a 30 per cent fall in local bumblebee biodiversity in all three countries between the 1950s and the 1980s. However, that decline slowed to an estimated 10 per cent in Britain by 2010, while in Belgium and the Netherlands bumblebee diversity had stabilised… 

Original paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.12121

An international vision for wheat improvement - International Wheat Initiative (2013)

By 2050, a 60% increase in wheat production will be needed to meet the demand of a growing population. The Wheat Initiative, an international consortium (ref 1) gathering public institutions and private companies, was created as part of the 2011 action plan of the G20 Agricultural Ministries (ref 2) to coordinate global wheat research and participate to global food security. On May 15, 2013, the Wheat Initiative issues its vision document (ref 3) paving the way for its actions… 

Hélène Lucas, International Scientific Coordinator of the Wheat Initiative explains: “In the last 20 years, wheat has become an orphan crop in terms of research investments considering its importance for global food security. To change this situation, the public and private sectors must address the great challenges facing wheat through substantially increased and coordinated investment in research. This effort will ensure that wheat research and improvement programs are conducted synergistically to increase food security and safety in a changing environment, while taking into account societal demands for sustainable and resilient agricultural production systems”… 

ref 3: More efficient use of genetic resources is one of the most important approaches to enhance wheat yield. During the past decade, developments in genomics, molecular genetics and biotechnology have provided new tools for wheat breeding. Together with a better understanding of wheat physiology and development, these technologies can be used to accelerate traditional breeding programs or to artificially insert genes into wheat – from related plants or from completely different species.

However, a significant and increased investment, both in conventional and molecular-based breeding, is necessary to reduce the time from trait discovery to widespread cultivation of new wheat varieties… Conventional breeding will still be used, but will be complemented on a large scale by approaches already available today such as double haploids (DH), Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS), or transgenics… 

Biotechnology Industry Organization: It’s not too late to change the conversation on GMOs - FoodNavigator (2013)

When it comes to winning hearts and minds about the merits of genetically engineered ingredients (and whether to alert consumers to their presence on food labels), it’s fair to say that the biotech industry has not done a great job…

There has been a sophisticated and coordinated attempt to create a sense of alarm about GM foods…

If opponents don’t trust Big Food, there are other, independent sources that can provide perspectives…

If you want to know why food biotech is dominated by multinationals, look at AquaBounty’s experience and ask yourself how many SMEs can afford to get a slice of the action…

Herbicide use…

GMO labeling: Between a rock and a hard place…

Development underway for first transgenic sugarcane plantation - Jakarta Post (2013)

The National Genetically Modified Product Biosafety Commission (KKHPRG) recently approved the first genetically-altered sugarcane crop, paving the way for the development of transgenic sugarcane for commercial production. 

Bambang Purwantara, a member of the commission, said that the institutions which held the mandate to approve biotech plants had all given the nod to a drought-resistant transgenic sugarcane seed

The cane, developed by state plantation firm PT Perkebunan Nusantara, the Indonesian Sugarcane Plantation Research Center (P3GI) and experts from the State University of Jember in East Java, is currently under a limited field testing.

“We are proud to announce that the first biotech staple crop will be a drought-resistant sugarcane. We expect to see the transgenic sugarcane planted by next year at the latest,” Bambang explained… 

The drought-resistant sugarcane is the first out of 14 recommended biotech crops that are being assessed by the commission, which was established in 2010 to oversee the developing biotechnology.

Thirteen other transgenic food crops have passed food safety testing, which ensures that the products are safe for human consumption. The recommended biotech crops include several varieties of corn, soybeans, sugarcane and an antifreeze protein producing plant.

Besides food safety testing, the biotech plants also have go through feed safety and environmental safety tests to assess use as animal fodder and to assess its environmental impacts respectively, as laid down in the Agriculture Minister’s regulation No. 61/2011 sets out the establishment of a transgenic system… 

With growing population and demand production needs to increase on limited plots of lands… There are plans to import 2.27 million tons of raw sugar this year, up by 8.1 percent from 2.1 million tons in 2012, in a bid to meet the surge in refining capacity of local sugar mills. Data from the Agriculture Ministry shows that 780,000 tons of corn were imported in the first quarter, three times as much as the 260,000 tons last year.

Data from BPS also shows that consumption of grain increased by an average 8 percent each year between 2000 and 2012, while corn yields increased on average by only 6 percent and corn per planted hectare increased by only 1 percent per annum. The high demand for soybean-made tempeh and tofu cannot be met by local production and 60 percent of soybean needs are met by imports.

Kenya’s GMO ban has no legal basis, official says - SciDev.Net (2013)

A senior Kenyan government official has dismissed last year’s ban on the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country — calling it ill-advised and lacking the backing of law. Romano Kiome, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the ban cannot be enforced because it was imposed by the cabinet, which has no authority in law to do so…  

The ban came into effect in November 2012 after a cabinet meeting… to ban GM food imports until the country is able to certify that they have no negative impact on people’s health. But three years before the ban, Kenya had set up the National Biosafety Authority, tasked with supervising the transfer, handling and use of GMOs. The agency was established by the Biosafety Act, which was passed in the Kenyan parliament and became law… It includes the aim of establishing “a transparent, science-based and predictable process” for reviewing the use of GMOs… The biosafety authority is the only body legally mandated to manage GMOs and could not be bypassed by the cabinet… 

The ban is not only unlawful but could also affect biotechnology research to boost food production in the country as there have been fears among Kenyan scientists that it could hold back progress research and development (R&D) on biotechnology in the country. 

According to David Wafula, Kenya coordinator at the Program for Biosafety Systems ― a partnership between USAID and the Kenya government supporting development and use of biosafety systems in agricultural innovation in Kenya ― the ban has not been published in the Kenya Gazette, an official government publication containing new legislation and notices required to be published by law or policy. “The ban was not informed by any evidence from competent authorities, including the National Council of Science and Technology, which is mandated to advise the government on research and policy issues”… 

A Look at Product Development with Genetically Modified Crops: Examples from Maize - Mumm (2013) - J Ag Food Chem

Plant breeding for crop genetic improvement involves the cycle of creating genetic diversity and exploiting that diversity to derive an improved cultivar with outstanding performance for specific traits of interest. Genetic modification through transformation essentially expands the genepool to facilitate access to genes otherwise not available through crossing.

Transgenic events are defined by the DNA sequence that has been incorporated into the target genome and the specific point(s) of insertion. In the development of a new transgenic trait, typically many events are generated and evaluated with the aim of identifying one exhibiting consistent trait expression at or above specified thresholds, stable inheritance, and the absence of any negative effects. Once commercial candidates have been identified, these events are introgressed into elite lines, often through the use of molecular markers which can accelerate the breeding process and aid in producing a quality conversion.

Converted elite lines are yield-tested to ensure performance equivalency with their unconverted counterparts. Finally, before commercial sale of seed, quality control monitoring is conducted to ensure event identity and purity and the absence of any unintended events. This monitoring complements other quality control measures to confirm seed viability and line/hybrid purity and uniformity in seed treatments, all in an effort to ensure customer satisfaction and to comply with governmental regulations.

Thus, genetically modified (GM) cultivars are subject to significant testing and auditing prior to seed sale and distribution to farmers, more testing and auditing than with non-GM cultivars.

Toward a workable biosafety system for regulating genetically modified organisms in Ethiopia: Balancing conservation and competitiveness - Abraham (2013) - GM Crops Food

On September 9, 2009, Ethiopia enacted a highly restrictive biosafety law firmly based on precautionary principles as a foundation for its GMO regulation system. Its drafting process, led by the country’s Environmental Protection Authority, was judged as biased, focusing only on protecting the environment from perceived risks, giving little attention to potential benefits of GMOs.

Many of its provisions are very stringent, exceeding those of Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, while others cannot be fulfilled by applicants, collectively rendering the emerged biosafety system unworkable. These provisions include requirements for advance informed agreement and rigorous socioeconomic assessment in risk evaluation for all GMO transactions, including contained research use—which requires the head of the competent national authority of the exporting country to take full responsibility for GMO-related information provided—and stringent labeling, insurance and monitoring requirements for all GMO activities.Furthermore, there is no provision to establish an independent national biosafety decision-making body(ies).

As a result, foreign technology owners that provide highly demanded technologies like Bt cotton declined to work with Ethiopia. There is a fear that the emerged biosafety system might also continue to suppress domestic genetic engineering research and development. Thus, to benefit from GMOs, Ethiopia has to revise its biosafety system, primarily by making changes to some provisions of the law in a way that balances its diverse interests of conserving biodiversity, protecting the environment and enhancing competition in agricultural and other economic sectors… 

Developing a Policy for Low-Level Presence (LLP): A Canadian Case Study - Tranberg (2013) - AgBioForum

Agricultural biotechnology research and adoption is increasing. It is estimated that by 2015 there will be a three- to four-fold increase in the number of commercialized biotech products. Also increasing are the complications with international trade given the wide range of acceptance and regulatory capabilities currently in practice globally, specifically, the increasing low-level presence (LLP) of biotech products that have received full regulatory approval in one or more countries but not in the country of import.

Canada, recognizing the impact of LLP on international trade, is taking a leadership role. Using a government-industry collaborative model, the Canadian government is developing a domestic regulatory policy to manage LLP from imports and building international collaborations to raise awareness of the impacts of LLP on trade globally. This article details the collaborative government-industry process and the current status of the draft domestic LLP policy and international engagement… 

A proactive approach by Canada to establish a domestic LLP policy could minimize trade disruptions resulting from imports coming into Canada inadvertently containing LLP, which would be beneficial to all sectors of the seed and grain industry. Potentially being the first country to fully develop and employ a LLP policy would also provide an example for other countries to follow on the management of LLP globally.

Establishing a domestic LLP policy prior to or in concert with Canada’s key trading partners will enable Canada to encourage trading partners to establish LLP policies that reflect consistent, science-based factors and which would assist in mitigating future incidences of LLP… 

Estimating the Potential Economic Benefits of Adopting Bt Cotton in Selected COMESA Countries - Mulwa &al (2013) - AgBioForum

Cotton farmers in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) face pest challenges, the most destructive of which is the African bollworm… Reduction in these pest infestations can increase yields and improve welfare of cotton producers, consumers, and innovators.

Currently, the control of bollworms in this region is done through application pesticides, which is a costly exercise in terms of cost of pesticides, spray equipment, and labor. A more effective and less costly way to control damage from bollworms and other insects that frequently damage cotton in the region is by adopting Bt cotton.

Governments in COMESA region are debating whether to approve Bt cotton for commercial production. This decision requires empirical evidence showing the likely magnitude of anticipated gains for producers, consumers, and innovators of the technology.

Using an economic surplus framework, this study shows that there are welfare gains from adopting Bt cotton in the region, and countries that are not adopting Bt cotton are losing. Overall, most gains accrue to Egypt while Kenya gains the least. However, gains per hectare are similar in all countries except Egypt, which gains about four times the other countries… 

The benefits of Bt cotton may be dependent on the stochastic form of other biotic and abiotic constraints, such as secondary pests and droughts due to climate change. For the full benefits to be realized, the respective countries should invest in adoption of climate-change adaptation strategies to mitigate the negative effects of droughts. In addition, innovators should consider stacking Bt cotton technology with drought-tolerant traits to guard against adverse effects of droughts…

GM trees: Into the wildwood - Economist (2013)

Once upon a time, according to folklore, a squirrel could travel through America’s chestnut forests from Maine to Florida without ever touching the ground… No longer. Axes and chainsaws must take a share of the blame. But the principal culprit is Cryphonectria parasitica, the fungus that causes chestnut blight. In the late 19th century, some infected saplings from Asia brought C. parasitica to North America. By 1950 the chestnut was little more than a memory in most parts of the continent.

American chestnuts may, however, be about to rise again—thanks to genetic engineering. This month three experimental patches will be planted, under the watchful eye of the Department of Agriculture, in Georgia, New York and Virginia. Along with their normal complements of genes, these trees have been fitted with a handful of others that researchers hope will protect them from the fungus.

The project has been organised by the Forest Health Initiative (FHI), a quango set up to look into the idea of using genetic engineering to rescue species of tree whose populations have been devastated by fungal diseases or insect pests. It has sponsored research at several universities, and this month’s trial is the first big field test. If it works, the FHI will ask the government for permission to plant transgenic chestnuts in the wild, with the intention of re-establishing the species in America’s woodlands… 

Until now, the genetic modification of trees has had strictly commercial aims: speeding up the growth and extending the environmental tolerance of species intended for plantations. This use of genetic modification has been opposed by environmentalists, who fear that such “supertrees” may escape and damage wild forests. The Forest Health Initiative’s goal, though, is to heal wild forests, not hurt them. If its experiments do produce a strain of chestnut that could do the job, it will be interesting to see how enthusiastically greens embrace it.

The Economic impact of public agricultural research and development in the United States - Andersen & Song (2013) - Ag Econ

We examine the relationship between public investments in agricultural research and development and the productivity-enhancing benefits they generate.

Knowledge productivity functions are estimated for U.S. agriculture… We examine the time-series properties of the data… The results are used to calculate economic performance measures…

The real rate of return to public investments in agricultural research and development in the United States is in the range of 8-10% per annum…

Modifying the Endless Debate Over Genetically Modified Crops - TIME (2013)

I’ve never quite understood the obsession surrounding genetically modified (GM) crops. To environmentalist opponents, GM foods are simply evil… To supporters, GM crops are a key part of the effort to sustainably provide food to meet a global population that is growing by the billions. But more than that, supporters see the knee-jerk GM opposition of many environmentalists as fundamentally anti-science, no different than the deniers on the other side of the political spectrum who question the basics of man-made climate-change.

For both sides, GM foods seem to act as a symbol: you’re pro-agribusiness or anti-science. But science is exactly what we need more of when it comes to GM foods, which is why I was happy to see the venerable journal Nature devote a special series of articles to the GM food controversy. You can download most of them for free here… The upshot: while GM crops haven’t yet realized their initial promise and have been dominated by agribusiness, there is reason to continue to use and develop them to help meet the enormous challenge of sustainably feeding a growing planet.

That doesn’t mean GM crops are perfect, or a one sizes fits all solution to global agriculture woes. Nature points out that most of the benefit of GM technology so far has indeed gone to big agribusiness… Of course, just because something benefits Monsanto doesn’t automatically make it wrong—though clearly not everyone would believe that—and advocates say that GM crops have increased agriculture production by nearly $100 billion and prevented nearly 500 million kg of pesticides from being sprayed since the technology was first commercialized nearly two decades ago…

But hasn’t the use of GM crops increased herbicide-resistant weeds—the so-called “superweeds”? Yes—but it’s not just genetic modification. Before GM crops like Roundup Ready, farmers would often use multiple herbicides to keep weeds in line, which would slow the pace of resistance… Nature points out that weed species are becoming resistant to herbicides that aren’t covered by GM crops, like atrazine… The problems seems to be less the GM crop itself than the way it was deployed—no rotation of crop types and no varying chemicals to head off resistance.

That should really be the lesson of the GM debate. GM foods are a useful tool—and as scientists develop next-generation GM crops, like the long awaited vitamin A-infused Golden Rice, they have the potential to become even more useful. The problems we face in feeding ourselves are very real—out of the 7 billion people on this planet, 1 billion are chronically hungry and an additional 1 billion people are malnourished because their diets lack vital micronutrients like iron, zinc and vitamin A… We need to grow that additional food without using up much more land, because we’re already near the 15% of the Earth’s surface that can sustainably be used for farming.

So anything that can increase farming efficiency—the amount of crops we can produce per acre of land—will be extremely useful. GM crops can and almost certainly will be part of that suite of tools, but so will traditional plant breeding, improved soil and crop management—and perhaps most important of all, better storage and transport infrastructure, especially in the developing world…

I wish a tenth of the energy that’s spent endlessly debating GM crops was focused on those more pressing challenges for global agriculture. There are much bigger battles to fight. 

New non-GM technology platform for genetic improvement of sunflower oilseed crop - NUI (2013)

Scientists have developed techniques for the genetic improvement of sunflowers using a non-GMO based approach. The new technology platform can harness the plant’s own genes to improve characteristics of sunflower, develop genetic traits, which will improve its role as an important oilseed crop… 

Among oilseed crops, sunflowers are one of the most important sources of edible vegetable oil for human consumption worldwide. Sunflower and other oilseed crops are the source of the vast majority of vegetable oil used for cooking and food processing. The oils are also for industrial processes such as making soaps, cosmetics, perfumes, paints and biofuels…

Dr Chatterjee’s research uses an approach called TILLING (Targeting Induced Lesions In The Genome), an established non-GM method for creating and discovering new traits in plants…

Over the centuries, the sunflower has been cultivated for traits such as yield. However, along the way many useful genetic variations have been lost. This new technology allows us to pinpoint key genetic information relating to various useful traits in the sunflower, including wild sunflower species. It gives us a method to quickly create variability for further breeding to enhance the quantity, quality and natural performance of the crop. In this era of increasing global food crisis and changing climatic regimes, such ability is highly desirable…