The Rural Voice, 2001-10, Page 50Research Scrap Book
Gene -altering vaccine could change plants
Australian scientists say they've
developed a vaccine that can alter
genes to make them immune to
diseases and even change some
characteristics of the plant.•
The vaccine could increase yields
of major crops such as wheat and
barley up to 30 per cern by activating
plant defence mechanisms to knock
out diseases before they take hold —
in the same way humans can be
vaccinated against the flu.
Unlike other forms of genetic
modification, the Australian technique
does not change the plant by inserting
a foreign gene but instead silences an
existing gene.
"From that point of view it's
perhaps more acceptable to
consumers," scientist Peter
Waterhouse said. "It's very exciting.
,It's enabling technology. You can do
all sorts of different things with it."
Among those different things are
knocking out genes to produce non -
browning bananas or caffeine -free
coffee while not altering the protein
structure, said Waterhouse, a scientist
with the Australian government's
Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organization.
The technique could also silence
unwanted genes that produce allergens
in nuts or pollen.
The technology which has been
proven in barley plants raised in
greenhouses and is about to be used in
trial crops, involves inserting a small,
incomplete piece of virus RNA into
plant DNA. DNA makes up genes
which transmit hereditary
characteristics. RNA helps cells make
proteins, and is also the hereditary
material in some viruses.
Plants recognize the virus RNA as
foreign and activate their defence
mechanisms, degrading the invader
before it multiplies. This results in
immunity to the virus, which scientists
say can be passed down through plant
generations. The method targets the
cell's own RNA to silence genes.
"We can also target the degradation
of any RNA," Waterhouse said. "You
can tell the plant, in a way, that you
want to knock out (any RNA)...
make the plant think that it is a virus."
Waterhouse isn't sure when the
vaccine will be commercially
available. He said it is complicated by
cross -patent negotiations with
multinational corporations active in
the genetic modification business, as
well as by consumer reaction. Still,
the technology is ready to roll, he said.
Waterhouse said the vaccination
technology could be worth millions, if
not billions of dollars in licence fees
and increased productivity.
Multinationals would have to buy
licences from the Australian
organization if they wanted to use the
technology, which is in the process of
being patented. Hundreds of
international laboratories have already
requested technical details.
Savings to Australia's huge wheat
crop, worth $4 billion (Aust.) a year
on world markets would be huge.0
— Source: Reuters News Agency
Animal welfare depends on farm profits
There's a direct link between a farm's prosperity and the welfare of its
animals, says the head of University of British Columbia's animal welfare
centre.
"If profits are too low, then the animals as well as their owners end up living
in poverty," said David Fraser at a livestock care conference in Calgary. "There
is a clear link between farm profits and animal welfare standards."
Fraser said the decision to raise cattle in enclosed areas is made strictly for
economic reasons. Chicken cages and gestation crates are used to increase
production and earn more money. Supply management which guarantees farmers
reasonable profits, gives farmers greater options compared to unregulated
competition, he said.
Still, Fraser argued for national guidelines for animal care, handling and
slaughter. Current provincial regulations mean different standards across the
country. 0
46 THE RURAL VOICE
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— Source: Western Producer
Climate change
could boost crop
yields in Canada
Canadian agricultural produc-
tion could double by 2080 because
of global warming but it will have
to if people in poorer countries,
who will be hard hit, are to eat says
a study, by the International Insti-
tute for Applied Systems Analysis
and the Food and Agriculture Org-
anization of the United Nations.
The study, the first comprehen-
sive look at how climate change
will affect the world's agricultural
systems, predicts many countries,
where masses of people already go
hungry, will see their ability to
grow food plummet.
The study, by the institute's
senior scientist Mahendra Shah
and three others, concludes the
world's smallest polluters will
suffer the most. The poorest 40
countries will lose roughly a fifth
of their ability to grow food. These
countries are already short nearly
10 million tonnes of food a year
needed to feed their populations.
By 2080, once the effects of
greenhouse gases currently in the
atmosphere are fully felt, they will
have a deficit of 60 millions
tonnes, Shah said.
"T,he future looks bleak," he
said. "And these poor developing
countries have done little in terms
of causing climate change."
For Canada — one of the
world's biggest greenhouse -gas
polluters — the picture looks
considerably more rosy. Shah said
land currently too cold or too dry
to grow food will eventually
become arable.
However, some scientists have
questioned whether the quality of
soil above the current agricultural
belt in Central Canada will be
robust enough to grow food crops,
even if water and warmth are
present.
Other winners from climate
change are expected to be Finland,
Norway, New Zealand, Russia and
China.0
— Source: The Globe and Mail