December 12, 2002
By Christof Fellmann,
Checkbiotech
The animal and plant health
inspection service (APHIS) recently decided to deregulate
Monsanto’s genetically engineered canola GT200.
After analysing scientific data
and listening to public responses, APHIS recently decided to
deregulate the canola variety GT200. This determination followed
Monsanto’s request for a non-regulation status for its new
canola product.
Moreover, the recent decision by APHIS may have been facilitated
due to the fact that Monsanto’s canola GT200 was produced using
the same method as for its non-regulated Roundup Ready canola
RT73.
Similar to canola RT73, canola GT200 expresses the
5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) enzyme from
Agrobacterium sp. (strain CP4), and the glyphosate
oxidoreductase (GOX) protein from Ochrobactrum anthropi (strain
LBAA). Working symbiotically, EPSPS and GOX make the plant
resistant to the herbicide glyphosate.
Glyphosate is one of the most used herbicides worldwide. When
sprayed on plants glyphosate (N-phosphonomethyl glycine)
inhibits the production of aromatic amino acids that are
essential for plant
growth.
Prior to the recent decision to deregulate Monsanto’s GT200, the
product could only be used in field trials as a regulated
article. APHIS defines a regulated article as an organism or
product that is a plant pest, or that is under suspicion of
being a plant pest, as a result of having been altered, or
produced, through genetic engineering.
GT200 and RT73 canola varieties were produced through
transformation of the parental canola variety Westar using the
Agrobacterium tumefaciens method. Both products make use of the
plant pathogen figwort mosaic virus to control gene expression
of the added genes. In this case, the virus’ pathogenic
components were taken out, thus eliminating any possible risk
from using the virus in the plant. Despite these precautionary
steps, the use of the figwort mosaic virus was one of the
driving factors to regulate GT200 before its release for
commercial use.
After analysing all available data during the regulation period,
APHIS concluded that canola GT200 is safe because it expresses
no plant pest characteristics, is no more likely to become a
weed than traditional varieties, is unlikely to increase the
weed-potential of other species with which it can interbreed,
and it will not harm other organisms that are beneficial to
agriculture.
The recent ruling by APHIS will be effective as of January 2,
2003.
Source: US Department of
Agriculture.
Christof Fellmann is a writer for Checkbiotech and a student at
Basel University, Switzerland.
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