GM Papaya Issues Biosafety
The regulatory issues that were addressed by these agencies were related to environmental impact of the organism, the safety of the coat protein as a biopesticide, and the food and feed safety aspects of the transgenic crop. The USDA-APHIS concluded that transgenic papayas do not pose a direct or indirect plant pest risk; equally, these papayas do not have environmental impacts any different from that of nontransgenic papayas. Similarly, the EPA approved the PRSV coat protein as a safe biopesticide. Plant viruses are ubiquitous and are ingested by humans as a normal part of their daily diet of fruits and vegetables. Plant viruses have not been known to infect humans or animals. For food and feed safety, the FDA concluded that the transgenic papayas are not materially different in composition, safety, or other relevant parameters from papaya varieties currently on the market. Intellectual property rights (IPR) Obtaining the license to develop Rainbow papaya from the technology innovators for commercial planting and export was apparently even harder than the deregulation process. License agreements were obtained from Monsanto, Asgrow Seed Company, Cambia Biosystems, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And they are only given with specific conditions. For example, Rainbow papaya could only be planted in the state of Hawaii. Furthermore, fruits could only be sold in countries that have accepted genetically engineered papayas as safe for commercialization. Public acceptance Since the deregulation of Rainbow for commercial planting in 1997, at least 500 acres have been cultivated with this new variety. The demand for Rainbow seed has been so high that even one grower illegally took seeds from the University farm. "Consumer acceptance has been great," reports Rusty Perry, who runs a papaya farm near Puna. "We've found that customers are more concerned with how the fruits look and taste than with whether they are transgenic or not." |
Related topics: Summary Report on the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops - [View the 2004 report] Transgenic Crops - [Click Here] Extensive Study on Bt Cotton - [Click Here] Download the complete copy of the ISAAA Briefs on Global Status/Review of GM Crops - [Click Here] SciDev.Net's dossier on GM crops - [Click here] Global Status of Approved Genetically Modified Plants - [Click here] |
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The application
for field-testing of the Rainbow papaya was initiated in 1991. Commercialization
was approved only 6 years later. It was first necessary to gain the
approval of three major governmental agencies [United States Department
of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS),
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA)] before the crop could be deregulated for commercial planting.