Seed Today - Q1 2008 - (Page 64)

GM Corn May Stem the Tide of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Improved nitrogen efficiency crops will require less gas-emitting fertilizer N 2O N2O N 2O N2O Nitrates in the soil can be converted to nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is 300 times as potent as carbon dioxide, molecule for molecule. Is it possible that environmentalists and green activists can come together and support GM crops as a useful tool to help abate greenhouse gas emissions? This article is taken from New Scientist, Jan. 5, 2008. In the debate concerning how to reduce emissions of gases thought to contribute to climate change and global warming, attention is turning to farming. Agricultural production contributes more greenhouse gases than all the world’s cars, trains, ships and planes put together. The single biggest problem with farming is not carbon, but nitrogen. Large-scale crop production depends on nitrogen fertilizer. Although only a tiny proportion escapes into the atmosphere as nitrous oxide, N2O is an extremely potent greenhouse gas. It’s a vexing problem, but Eric Rey, president and CEO, Arcadia Biosciences, Davis, CA, believes he has some of the answers, in the form of crops genetically modified to require less fertilizer. Rey aims to persuade greens that plant biotechnology can make farming more ecofriendly. There is a growing realization that climate change will be a serious challenge for farmers. “One of our main focuses right now is on helping plants adapt to environmental stress,” says David Fischhoff, Monsanto’s vice-president for technology strategy and development. Drought Tolerance The first of this new generation of GM crops will be varieties of corn that can survive periods of drought, or make do with less water. Engineering plants to tolerate water shortage is more complicated than simply inserting a gene for herbicide resistance or an insecticidal protein. What works in one crop variety, and in one environment, may not work in another. Still, Monsanto and its rivals claim that they can already boost corn yields in dry conditions by around 10 percent. The first commercial varieties could become available soon after 2010. Droughttolerant versions of other plants are not far behind. “We’re looking for ways to leverage what we find in corn into other crops,” says Marc Albertsen, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Johnston, IA. In drought-stricken Australia, a team led by German Spangenberg is now running field trials of 30 different lines of GM wheat. The lines have various genes taken from sources such as corn, brewer’s yeast, thale cress and moss that may help the wheat tolerate drought. Opposition inevitable Gene flow from transgenic plants has happened already, but traits such as tolerance to drought and salt are different from those found in most existing GM crops in that they could give plants that acquire 64 First Quarter 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Seed Today - Q1 2008

Seed Today - Q1 2008 Contents Editor’s Notes Cover Feature: Agrecol® Corporation Reed Barker, Ph.D. Cal/West Seeds Inc. Annual GM Use Report Bt Resistance Reported Camelina Tony Harper Gayle Jacklin According to ASTA Krauter Structures AOSCA AOSA/SCST GM and Greenhouse Gas Seed Associations Ad Index

Seed Today - Q1 2008

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