Journal or Publishing Institution: Nature Biotechnology
Study: https://web.archive.org/web/20180821183711/http://www.nature.com/articles/nbt0506-498
Author(s): Pelletier, D.
Article Type: Journal Publication
Record ID: 1857
Text: A letter by Vain in the November issue (Nat. Biotechnol. 23, 1348–1349, 2005) reports a study of two major science literature databases and tracks broad trends in plant transgenic science knowledge from 1973 to 2003. The study identified 30,624 papers, of which 14.8% related to technology development, 71.3% related to applications of technology and 13.8% related to development of genetically modified (GM) crops or feed. The author expresses the concern that the expanding gap between technology applications and development since the 1980s may limit future transgenic science and the ability to address issues related to GM crops.
One of the issues related to GM crops is food safety. Vain’s study did not seek to quantify the literature on this topic, but some studies using a more limited database have done so. One study’s author searched the US National
Library of Medicine Medline publications and documented 101 papers containing the terms ‘food safety’ and ‘genetically engineered foods.’1 Only eight of these papers reported findings from original rodent studies, with most of the remaining papers offering opinions and commentaries without supporting data. A search of the US Department of Agriculture’s Current Research Information database (http://cris.csrees.usda.gov/) from 1994 to 2002 identified 3,041 funded research projects related to plants and to biotech and/or transgenics, of which 145 related to toxins and 19 related to allergens2. Examination of these abstracts revealed that most of the toxin studies focused on enhancing pest protection through the use of plant toxins. Two of the toxin studies and five of the allergen studies were specifically using transgenic methods to study or alter known human toxins, allergens or allergenic foods. Two projects in 2001 sought to develop an animal model to test for unexpected allergens in GM foods. None of the 3,041 transgenic plant projects related to the appearance of unintended toxins or allergens in GM foods. It would be of interest to use Vain’s more comprehensive databases to further characterize the empirical science on the safety of GM foods.
The paucity of studies on food safety has hampered national and international efforts to develop regulations and has been noted by two committees of the US National Academy of Sciences, both of which have recommended expanded research in this area3,4. Similarly, a paucity of experimental studies related to ecological risks has been documented5 and led an Academy committee to identify a number of high priority research topics to better inform the development of regulations6. More broadly, these findings both document that transgenic research has overwhelmingly emphasized technology application over basic or risk-related research and suggest a need to examine transgenic funding priorities.
Keywords: Food Policy, Food Biotechnology, Food Safety, Developing Countries, Food and Drug Administration, Genetically Modified Foods, Foods, Risk, United States; Consumer Product Safety, Evidence-Based Medicine, Genetically Modified Food, Humans, Food Legislation, Nutrition Policy, United States Food and Drug Administration
Citation: Pelletier, D., 2006. Transgenic plant science priorities. Nature Biotechnology, 24(5), p.498.
