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Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (734)	12/8/1998 5:24:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

12/08 16:12 Biotech promise - nutritious, bug-free plants By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - From more nutritious plants that naturally fend off disease and insects, to vegetable oil that doubles as a vitamin pill, biotechnology can improve farming beyond recognition, researchers said on Tuesday. There was no hint of a protest against genetically engineered soybeans at the conference, sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. Instead, researchers told about projects underway to make crops that will resist a range of bugs, viruses and fungal infections, heart-healthy cooking oils and grains with boosted nutrients. Their audience -- the officers who will be approving these new products. Roger Beachy of the Scripps Research Institute in California said a potato will be on the market next year that has been genetically engineered to include genes from the Bacillus thurigensis (Bt) bacteria, which is commonly used as a pesticide. Instead of needing to spray with 10 to 12 different pesticides, farmers will need to use one or perhaps two to protect this crop, he said. Beachy said corn makes up 44 percent of all transgenic crops -- which have extra genes added from other species, usually microbes -- now being tested in trials. Tomatoes make up 12 percent and soybeans 11 percent. Most are being made resistant to herbicides, like Monsanto's <MTC.N> Round-up Ready soybean, which resists the weedkiller of the same name. The idea is to allow farmers to use fewer herbicides. But some groups object. News that the Round-up Ready soybeans were being shipped unmarked to Europe sparked street protests in some countries. Environmental groups like Greenpeace say the long-term health effects of such genetic tinkering is unknown. They want all products containing gene-modified crops to be labeled. The reaction in the United States has been more accepting, although the nonprofit International Center for Technology Assessment filed suit in May to try to force the FDA to retest gene-altered foods and to require clearer labels. Nonetheless, many companies are testing genetically-altered plants, including potatoes that will resist potato late blight, which caused the Irish potato famine of the 1840s and which is currently threatening global resurgence. Other foods may enter the realm of "nutraceuticals" -- foods that act almost as drugs. Sekhar Boddupalli of Monsanto described efforts to develop a canola (rapeseed) oil that contains high amounts of beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A, to combat a documented world epidemic in vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficits can lead to blindness and a damaged immune system. The World Health Organization estimates that 100,000 children die every year because of vitamin A deficiency and 300,000 to 500,000 go blind. The oil contains 16 times as much beta-carotene by weight as carrots do. "One could take a teaspoon of this oil and get the necessary recommended daily allowance (RDA)," Boddupalli said. He noted that rape, a relative of mustard, grows easily in developing nations such as China and India. Other companies are aiming to make their crops have healthier profiles. John Pierce of DuPont Agricultural Products <DD.N> said his company is developing soybeans that have a higher content of one essential fatty acid known as oleic acid. The soybeans produce an oil that is more stable for cooking, working almost as well as shortening without the unhealthy trans-fatty acids that can cause heart disease. The oil resembles olive oil, which is stable and rich in healthy monounsaturated fat, he said. Pierce also described corn that has a bigger germ, which results in twice the normal amount of oil. This corn -- field corn fed to livestock -- is more nutritious. "You get more protein to boot," he added.