Jones: Private Companies Should Partner with the Public Sector in Developing GM Crops

Professor Jonathan Jones, senior scientist at The Sainsbury Laboratory in John Innes Centre (JIC) shared his views on genetically modified crops through an interview. He said that the high cost of regulation, especially in Europe, is one of the major reasons why there is still low adoption of GM crops in the region. It is also the same reason why small companies and the public sector are not making large contributions in the development of GM crops. He stressed that GM crops must be developed through a public/private partnership. When evaluation of GM crops are done in the public sector, there will be lesser concerns and objections about GM crops.

When asked about his prediction on the future proportion of crops that are GM, he said that 90 percent of maize, soybean, and cotton will be GM. "I think it's already a high proportion of the rapeseed but that varies because it's grown in more environments, such as Europe which is non-GM at the moment. But really its not about whether it is or is not going to be GM but about how many traits are crops going to have. There are new methods for putting DNA into plant genomes at very precise positions - you could put 10 or 20 genes in that position and improve many different aspects of the plant all at once," he added.

Read the interview at http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/997020/public_sector_should_develop_gm_crops_for_
seed_companies_says_leading_researcher.html.