2023-05-19 04:36:45
Partnership
Will GM microbes soon invade the fields?
Products containing genetically modified (GM) microbes do not yet play a significant role in agriculture. But more and more companies are starting to develop fertilizers and plant protection products made from GM microbes. In Switzerland, these products would not be affected by the moratorium on GMOs.
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Dr Luigi D’Andrea, ASGG
Posted
Root nodules occur on the roots of plants (legumes) that associate with symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
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Rarely has so much money been invested in a start-up active in agricultural research as in Pivot Bio: the Californian company has received 600 million US dollars over the past four years – among others from Microsoft founder Bill Gates and of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. If investor interest is so strong, it is thanks to Proven et Return, the two products that Pivot Bio has so far launched in the US market. These are two fertilizers for cereals, Proven for corn, Return for millet and wheat. These fertilizers are composed of GM bacteria adapted to fix nitrogen with these cereals.
In the past, it was “legumes” such as soybeans, peas and beans that allowed atmospheric nitrogen to be fixed in the soil thanks to bacteria living in symbiosis with their root system. If you want a cereal to benefit from this “microbial service”, you must first cultivate a legume and then the cereal, or else cultivate the two together in a cropping association.
With GM bacteria from Proven et Return, no more culture association and hello GM bacteria disseminated directly in the fields. The market is huge and so are the profits because these products are patented…hoping that we don’t directly patent nitrogen fixation in passing, which would be entirely within the objective of investors.
Another sector of development is that of bacteria producing insecticidal toxins or compounds allowing them to act as insecticides thanks to a mechanism called “RNA interference” which we will not explain here. These active molecules, whether composed of proteins or RNA, would thus be widespread in the environment…
The need to abandon synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, the technological advances of recent years (which allow faster and easier modification of genomes) as well as the deregulation in certain countries of so-called “directed mutagenesis” techniques (using various genetic scissors – the best known being CRISPR-Cas –) explains the gigantic market that awaits these GM microbes.
A moratorium also for GM microbes?
It is not known if, and when, authorization applications for GM microbes will be filed in Switzerland. What is clear, however, is that they would not be affected by the current moratorium on GMOs. This only applies to plants and animals. Should the scope of the moratorium be extended to microbes? This is one of the questions politicians should debate when they decide in 2025 whether to extend the moratorium again.
What are the risks associated with GM microbes? Can we imagine products that bring added value to local agriculture? Are there any knowledge gaps that need to be filled before going to market? It is foreseeable that industry will soon demand, as is currently the case with plants, that microbes be excluded from the scope of genetic engineering legislation. It is also likely that the situation in the EU will play a role in the outcome of the talks in Switzerland.
The European Commission recently postponed the decision to deregulate GM microbes indefinitely, but instructed its authorities to prepare for their introduction to the market: the Joint Research Center is looking into methods for detecting GM microbes and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) questions whether existing guidelines are sufficient for risk assessment of GM microbes.
What about the protection of organic farming? It has always used bacteria as a growth activator or for the protection of plants… but it renounces genetic engineering and GMOs. It will probably be impacted by the dissemination of these products and their patents.
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