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Science – Heredity, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Agriculture – Farming and Food Production

Business – Technology, Markets and Profits

Law – Intellectual Property Law

Policy – Public Policy & Regulatory Policy

The Intersection of

Definition –HistoryHow Ag Biotech works Success of Technology Why Farmers Use It

Concerns and IssuesMarket ReactionsCorporate Wars

Table of Contents

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An array of basic sciences that use scientific

discovery and new technologies for the manipulation of the fundamental building blocks of genetic information to create new life forms that may not have occurred in nature.

Genetically Modified Organism: altered genetic make up

What is Biotechnology?

Genetic Modification began thousands of years ago when crops and animals were first domesticated

Gregor Mendel, through his studies of garden peas unraveled the laws of inheritance – 1865, but ignored until rediscovered in 1890s

Remember High School Biology

Farmers today grow five times as much corn as they did in the 1930s – on 20 percent less land

The yield per acre has skyrocketed from 24 bushels in 1931 to 154 now, or a six-fold gain.

The primary reason – the development of hybrid corn, a direct result of Mendel and the subsequent scientists who worked to understand genetics and heredity

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The national average of 153 bushels produced on each acre in 2010 was nearly 20 percent larger than the average yield in 2002 – and plant breeding experts estimate yields may jump 40 percent before 2020 and, perhaps, hit a national average of 300 bushels per acre by 2030.

Who is this Man?

Norman E. Borlaug

Father of the Green Revolution of the 1960s

Improved, Higher Yield Crop Varieties through Plant

Breeding

India and other countries became self-sufficient in

grain Production

Nobel Peace Prize Recipient in 1970

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Agricultural biotechnology is a science that allows

plant breeders to make precise genetic changes to place beneficial traits – such as pest resistance, disease resistance or herbicide tolerance – into plants.

Agricultural Biotechnology

Nucleotides make up DNA. DNA makes up genes, and genes are small segments of chromosomes

Think of the Wonder of it All – We can identify, manage and move these basic genetic building blocks to where they can improve the genetic capability of the plant!

Today – Crops, not Animals

BUT, a good paper for reference is:Council for Agricultural Science and Technology

(CAST)

“The Science and Regulation of Food from Genetically Engineered Animals”

QTA2011-2

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Since the introduction of biotechnology-derived

commercial crop in 1996, farmers have used this science to grow plants that yield more per acre with reduced production costs while being resistant to disease and pests and also beneficial to the environment.

Round Up Ready Soybeans and Corn BT Cotton – Insect Resistance

Commercial Adoption

Why Farmers Adopt

Yield Increase Energy Savings Tillage Efficiencies Pesticide Savings Better Pest Control Weed Insects

Save Money or Make Money

Scope of Biotech Crop Varieties

United StatesCorn – 88% of acreage 79 million acres

Soybeans – 93% of acres 71 million acres

Cotton – 94% of acreage 10 million acres

World 29 countries

16.7 million farmers 400 million acres

90% are resource-poor farmers

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Input Traits//Output Traits

Input Traits Disease Resistance

Insect Resistance

Herbicide Tolerance

Drought Resistance

Output Traits YIELD

Fortify Nutritional Characteristics

Higher oil content or quality

Pharmaceutical Qualities

Round Up Ready

AlfalfaCornCotton SoybeanCanola Sugar Turf

Not Vegetables/Fruit

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Ag Bio-Tech or GMO’sProponents & Opponents

A 40 year debateWorld wide in Scope

Are the Fears Justified?Genetically Modified Crops Have

Resulted In:

Reduced Hunger/ Higher YieldsLess Pesticide Use

Less Carbon EmissionsReduced collateral damage to Biodiversity and Rain Forest

Destruction

Biggest concern: Genetic Resistance among Weeds and Pests

World’s Corn Crop 31 million tons moreWorld’s Soybean Crop 14 million tons more Farm Income increased by $14 billion, more than half

of which went to farmers in developing countries Reduction of pesticides by 965 million pounds

Brooks & Barfoot, PG Economics, published in 2 peer reviewed Journals - 2010

Success of GMO Crops

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Four Biggest Scientific Developments of the 20th Century

Breaking Gravity

Splitting the Atom

The Computer Revolution

Genetic Engineering What had to happen to

move commercial development forward?

WHY IS AGR-BIOTECH /GENETIC

ENGINEERING SO IMPORTANT?

FEED THE WORLD?MAKE $ FOR CORPORATIONS?

THE UNITED NATIONS EXPECTS NEARLY 9 BILLION PEOPLE ON EARTH BY 2050

WHERE IS THIS – U.S.,

BRAZIL, CANDADA,

UKRAINE?

LAND AND TECNOLOGY: KEY TO INCREASE THE PRODUCTION

GMO TECHNOLOGY

SHOULD BE EXPLORED FOR OTHER CROPS

Food Demand

World Grain Production(3 Years Average – Millions Tons)

Source: Conab

Country ProductionEstados Unidos 502.2China 476.7EU-27 323.3India 246.5

Brazil 136.3Russia 94.3Argentina 88.1Australia 37.5Outros 738.7Total Mundial 2.643.70

502,2476,7

246,5

136,3

94,3323,3

37,5

88,1

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Brazil – 2nd major exporter of Soybeans and Corn In the World – European & Asian Markets are huge

Environmental Stresses (Drought/Heat/Cold)

More effective utilization of soil nutrients

Nutritionally fortified foods

Pharmaceuticals

Future in Ag Biotech

Agricultural Biotech Accepted By

World Health Organization

U. S. government

American Medical Association

National Academy of Sciences

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Seen as a “perilous intrusion into the natural world”

“Visceral skepticism toward motives and trustworthiness of large companies”

These viewpoints, while strong, do not offer a legal pathway to change the course of BioTech/Genetic Engineering

So, - - - - - -

Opposition to BioTech

Food Safety: Will it poison people?

Spread Super Weeds or Super “Bugs”

Entrench and Strengthen Corporate Monopolies

Banned in 30 countries France, Germany, Peru Most of Africa

Issues/Resistance

Opponents are Passionate, Determined

But, just because they oppose a technology, doesn’t mean they have

a legal pathway to support their position or ideology, so - - -

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Use laws that protect food

Use laws that protect the environment

Turns into multiple lawsuits against USDA and other agencies

Creates delay of an already lengthy regulatory process to gain approvals

Opponents Use Legal Levers Available

Can living organisms created by the human hand be patented?

Why is this important?

Where was it decided?

Genetic engineer Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty,

working for General Electric, had developed a bacterium (derived from the Pseudomonas genus) capable of breaking down crude oil, which he proposed to use in treating oil spills. He requested a patent for the bacterium in the United States but was turned down by a patent examiner, because the law dictated that living things were not patentable.

Diamond v. Chakrabarty

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The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

agreed with the original decision; however, the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appealsoverturned the case in Chakrabarty's favor, writing that "the fact that micro-organisms are alive is without legal significance for purposes of the patent law." Sidney A. Diamond, Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court case was argued on March 17, 1980 and decided on June 16, 1980.

Diamond v. Charkrabaty

A Coordinated Framework of Regulatory Oversight:

EPA

FDA

USDA

Who Regulates in US

Fortified Golden Rice

13 years in Regulatory Purgatory

“the regulation of genetic engineering is responsible for the death and blindness of thousands of children and young mothers

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Lords of the Harvest

Daniel CharlesPerseus Press

2001

An accurate history of the science, business and legal

developments surrounding the commercial implementation of

agricultural biotechnology.

Focuses on Monsanto and the development of Round Up

Ready Technologies

Oxford Farming Conference: His understanding of the impact on

biotechnology on feeding the world