What you need to know about GMO's The North Carolina Tomato Growers Association’s Winter Vegetable Conference And the 2016 Southeastern Apple Growers Meeting

What you need to know about GMO's Keith Edmisten Professor of Crop Science and Extension Cotton Specialist

What you need to know about GMO's  What is a GMO?  What do they do?  Who benefits from them?  Examples from fruit and vegetable industry

What is a GMO? What is the difference between genetically modified organisms and genetically engineered organisms.

What is a GMO? Man has been manipulating DNA in plants and animals for millennia All due to mutations and genomic alterations. All required human intervention for breeding and/or selection

What is a GMO? Man has been manipulating DNA in plants and animals for millennia

What is a GMO? Recombinant DNA  Transgenic - a gene is moved from one non-closely related species to another  Cisgenic/intragenic - a gene is moved within the same species or a closely related species.  Subgenic - a gene is edited to amplify, delete, insert, silence or repress the gene. CRISPR RNAi - RNAi - is a biological process in which RNA molecules inhibit gene expression -

Parent A (low performing variety with disease resistance) Parent B (elite variety) Conventional Plant Breeding Transgene Genetic Engineering vs Cisgenic, Why use GE to move/alter gene within species?

What is a GMO? What is the difference between genetically modified organisms and genetically engineered organisms? Conventional breeding/hybrids (cross between two non-clonal plants) Mutation breeding TransgenicsCisgenics Examples in common foods Almost everythingSome bananas, pears, apples, rice, yams, mint, others Much corn, cotton,soy, canola, papaya Coming soon Number of genes affected -10K300k, depending on species No way to assess-13,few more in stacked products -13, usually 1

GE Crops that have been commercialized in US What crops have a GMO trait? What do the traits do and what is the benefit of these traits?

GE Crops that have been approved but not commercialized in US Arctic Apple Innate Potato

Rennet is a complex of enzymes produced in stomachs of ruminant mammals which is used in the production of most cheeses. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease enzyme that curdles the casein in milk, helping young mammals digest their mothers' milk.

Many medicines are made with GE

What is a GMO? What crops have a GMO trait? What do the traits do and what is the benefit of these traits?

What is a GMO? GE Crop Traits All genetically engineered crops are not created equal - Raoul Adamchak  Herbicide tolerance - crop can withstand herbicide applications  Insect tolerance - plant produces toxin to kill pest  Improved nutrition – plant produces a substance of nutritive value or is changed to not produce an antinutrient  Disease resistant – crop is resistant to certain disease  Stress Tolerance – crop is tolerant of stress, low nutrient levels or excess nutrients  Increased Storage – crop can be stored longer to avoid spoilage losses  Medicinal uses – crops that produce medicines or vaccines  Industrial uses – crops to make more efficient industries  Toxin removal - removal or silencing of genes responsible for toxins in plants  Improved Metabolism – change in metabolism to improve efficiency

What is a GMO? GE Crop Traits All genetically engineered crops are not created equal - Raoul Adamchak  Herbicide tolerance - crop can withstand herbicide applications  Insect tolerance - plant produces toxin to kill pest  Improved nutrition – plant produces a substance of nutritive value or is changed to not produce an antinutrient  Disease resistant – crop is resistant to certain disease  Stress Tolerance – crop is tolerant of stress, low nutrient levels or excess nutrients  Increased Storage – crop can be stored longer to avoid spoilage losses  Medicinal uses – crops that produce medicines or vaccines  Industrial uses – crops to make more efficient industries  Toxin removal - removal or silencing of genes responsible for toxins in plants  Improved Metabolism – change in metabolism to improve efficiency

Improved Nutrition GE Crop Traits X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X

One acre of omega-3 producing soybeans or canola yields as much oil as 10,000 fish! X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X High Omega 3 Oil Crops X Improved Nutrition GE Crop Traits

High Anthocyanin Tomato A transcription factor excites anthocyanin production in fruits Longer shelf life too. X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X Improved Nutrition GE Crop Traits

Improved Nutrition GE Crop Traits X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X High Oleic Oil Soy

Allergy-Free Peanuts Peanut – RNAi suppression Ara h2 Improved Nutrition GE Crop Traits Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X

GE Crop Traits Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X Improved Nutrition - Toxin removal

GE Crop Traits Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X

Insect Resistance GE Crop Traits Decreased Insecticide Applications X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X

Disease Resistance GE Crop Traits Decreased Fungicide and Insecticide Applications X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X

Disease Resistance GE Crop Traits Decreased Fungicide and Insecticide Applications X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X

Disease Resistance GE Crop Traits Decreased Fungicide and Insecticide Applications Timely eradication of infected trees is the only method of control for Plum Pox Virus Symptoms of plum pox virus on apricot fruit and leaves. / X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X

Disease Resistance GE Crop Traits Decreased Insecticide Applications Stopping Citrus Greening Spinach defensin, NPR1, Lytic peptides Many show promise Earliest deregulation is 2019 X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X ? X

Disease Resistance GE Crop Traits Decreased Insecticide Applications Clonally propagated crops

Stress Tolerance GE Crop Traits X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X

Non Browning Apples and Potatoes Silencing a gene that leads to discoloration Increased Storage/Reduce waste GE Crop Traits Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X

Improved metabolism GE Crop Traits X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X

Improved metabolism GE Crop Traits X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X

Improved metabolism Hybrid varieties for self-pollinated crops GE Crop Traits h ttp:// X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X

Who benefits most from crop biotech (GMO)? Developing Countries

Who benefits most from crop biotech (GMO)?

How Have Developed Countries Benefited From GMO Crops?

Insect Resistance GE Crop Traits Decreased Insecticide Applications U.S. Insecticide use in Corn (M lbs) of active ingredient) USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy X X

Herbicide Resistance X Farmers Consumers Environment Needy GE Crop Traits Decreased tillage  Less soil erosion  CO2 sequestration  Increase soil organic matter  Reduced trips through the field  Less fuel use X

Herbicide Resistance GE Crop Traits Concerns Weed resistance

Herbicide Resistance GE Crop Traits Concerns Weed resistance

Herbicide Resistance GE Crop Traits Concerns Increased herbicide usage 1. Skyrocketing herbicide use Despite assurances to Congress and regulators over the last two decades that crops modified to be herbicide resistant would lead to less chemical usage, a peer-reviewed paper published last summer showed that the three major GMO crops in the U.S. – corn, soybeans, and cotton – have increased overall herbicide use by more than 527 million pounds between 1996 – 2011, compared to what it likely would have been in the absence of GMO crops. labeling-makes-sense/ labeling-makes-sense/

Herbicide Resistance GE Crop Traits Herbicide use on corn, soybeans and cotton — break it down per acre and it's not so dramatic. NPR using USDA data - and-gmos-when-numbers-don-t-tell-the-whole-story and-gmos-when-numbers-don-t-tell-the-whole-storyConcerns Increased herbicide usage

Herbicide Resistance GE Crop Traits Herbicide use on corn, soybeans and cotton. NPR using USDA data - gmos-when-numbers-don-t-tell-the-whole-storyhttp:// gmos-when-numbers-don-t-tell-the-whole-storyConcerns Increased herbicide usage

Herbicide Resistance GE Crop Traits Concerns Increased herbicide usage

Why are all the GMO traits aimed at increasing production rather than adding value to nutrition of foods or other health benefits?  Farmer will pay for technology  Will consumers accept and be willing to pay for technology?  Increased nutritional benefits constitute a material difference and will have to be labeled

Why are all the GMO traits aimed at increasing production rather than adding value to nutrition of foods or other health benefits?

Keith Edmisten, Crop Science Department, NCSU Are non-GMO foods necessarily more healthy? European Commission - A decade of EU- funded GMO research The main conclusion to be drawn from the efforts of more than 130 research projects, covering a period of more than 25 years of research, and involving more than 500 independent research groups, is that biotechnology, and in particular GMOs, are not per se more risky than e.g. conventional plant breeding technologies.

Keith Edmisten, Crop Science Department, NCSU Are non-GMO foods necessarily more healthy? safety-of-gm-crops/

Keith Edmisten, Crop Science Department, NCSU Are non-GMO foods necessarily more healthy? safety-of-gm-crops/

Are non-GMO foods necessarily more healthy?

Keith Edmisten, Crop Science Department, NCSU “First, think about how they fit into sustainable agriculture: Do they reduce pesticide use? Do they reduce soil erosion? Do they reduce nitrates leaching into the soil? Do they increase yields? If so, then that’s an improvement to our agricultural system.” - Raoul Adamchak, Manager of Certified Organic Market Garden at the UC Davis Student Farm.

agbiotech.ces.ncsu.edu