Plant Biotechnology and Genetics: Principles, Techniques and Applications

(Brent) #1

&CHAPTER 13


Field Testing of Transgenic Plants


DETLEF BARTSCH and ACHIM GATHMANN
Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, Berlin, Germany
CHRISTIANE SAEGLITZ
Institute of Environmental Research, Aachen University, Germany
ARTI SINHA
Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

13.0. CHAPTER SUMMARY AND OBJECTIVES

13.0.1 Summary

When companies or academic labs develop transgenic plants with proven traits, they must
assess growth and yield under field conditions. In addition, environmental risk analysis
experiments are also commonly performed in the field. A tiered assessment is recognized
as being the most appropriate and rigorous approach to assess environmental and economic
effects from both scientific and regulatory standpoints. Field design and statistical consider-
ations are described here to assess the performance of transgenic plants using transgenic
corn as an exemplary case study.

13.0.2 Discussion Questions


  1. What are the two overarching objectives for field testing of transgenic plants?

  2. What two factors are determined for risk assessment?

  3. What are some important and appropriate controls for field testing—say, for Bt crops?

  4. Give some examples of lower-tier experiments versus upper-tier tests. Why bother
    with lower-tier tests?

  5. Discuss what factors would be needed for the risk assessment of a nonagronomic
    trait, such as a pharmaceutical. Where would the risk assessor begin, and how
    would we know when the risk assessment is over—that is, a decision between safe
    and not safe?

  6. Which is more important: that a field test be performed for grain yield or
    environmental biosafety?


Plant Biotechnology and Genetics: Principles, Techniques, and Applications, Edited by C. Neal Stewart, Jr.
Copyright#2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
311
Free download pdf