January 5, 2006

2005 sees greater usage of biotechnology in crops, livestock

Significant achievements were made in the adoption and acceptance of agricultural biotechnology in crops and animals last year, said Sean Darragh, the executive vice president of Biotechnology Industry Organisation, which represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, state biotechnology centres and related organisations across 32 nations.

Darragh said that a major milestone was reached in May last year when the one billionth acre of GM crops was sown, capping a decade of plantings in 18 countries around the globe.  He also shared that more than 90 percent of the 8 million farmers growing GM crops were located in developing nations.

"While the first generation of plant biotech products directly benefited farmers and the environment, the next generation of plant biotech research is focussed on providing consumer benefits, including the development of biotech plants that offer increased nutrition and health benefits," shared Darragh.

In 2005, scientists continued with plant and animal genome sequencing projects, with plans to sequence soybean, corn, and sheep genomes announced.

Researchers will use these genetic maps to improve nutrient quality of food crops and strengthen plants' resistance to drought conditions, insect infestation and plant disease, in the hope of developing leaner and more nutritious dairy and meat products.

For livestock, USDA researchers announced a breakthrough that will help cows be naturally resistant to mastitis, a bacterial infection that inflames and causes swelling in cows' milk glands and results in milk production losses. The disease costs US dairy farmers up to US$2 billion in losses annually.

However, in biotech cows, the protein lysostaphin produced significantly decreases the likelihood of developing mastitis.

Also in Argentina, cows have been improved to produce human growth hormones in their milk, while in Scotland, scientists have developed a method of producing antibodies that treat malignant skin cancer, in chicken egg whites enhanced through biotechnology.