Archives

Vol. 3 No. 7
April 1-15, 2002
All about Bt corn
by Junelyn S. de la Rosa

1. Bt corn is a variety of corn genetically engineered to resist the attack of corn borers, a very destructive and difficult to control corn pest and a relative of common moths and butterflies.
2. Bt refers to Bacillus thuringiensis, the common soil bacteria where the gene making protein toxic to the target insect was obtained and transferred to Bt corn varieties. B. thuringiensis has a long history of safe use as an insecticide.
3. There are 9 types of Bt corn developed by 6 private corporations (Table below)
   
   

   Bt corn type	Technology developer
   Knockout, NatureGard Yieldgard‚ (Bt11) Starlink Bt Xtra MON801 Yieldgard‚ (MON802) Yieldgard‚ (MON810) MON809 Herculex	Syngenta Seeds, Inc. Syngenta Seeds, Inc Aventis (formerly AgroEvo) Dekalb Genetics Corp Monsanto Company Monsanto Company Monsanto Company Pioneer Hi-Bred International Mycogen (c/o Dow AgroSciences) Pioneer (c/o Dupont)

   These Bt corn types differ in their ability to resist the attack of their target insects and to adversely affect non-target insects. They also differ on the part of the plant where the Bt gene produces protein that is toxic to the target insect, in the amount of the Bt protein produced, the possible resistance of the Bt protein to digestion and the possibility of the Bt protein to cause allergic reactions. Some Bt corn types also contain transferred gene for herbicide tolerance.

4. Bt corn, like any other genetically engineered organism or GMO, is subject to regulation in various countries depending on use. If planned for crop production, environmental, food, and feed safety, data must be generated from laboratory and field trials and reviewed by independent scientists. If imported for food and/or feed, data on feed and food safety must be reviewed independently.
5. The environmental safety of a particular Bt corn for crop production is established by studying the available information on outcrossing with wild relatives, weediness potential, secondary and non-target effects on humans, other vertebrates, beneficial insects and on biodiversity and the presence of a mitigating measure to prevent the rapid evolution of insect resistance to the Bt protein.
6. The food and feed safety considerations of Bt corn include level of dietary exposure, comparative nutritional
   composition of forage and grains, and toxicity and allergenicity of the plant
   expressed novel proteins.
7. Different countries set different criteria
   in approving Bt corn for planting, and processing for food and feed use. Each type of Bt corn is evaluated independently. Each technology developer applies for the approval of its own individual Bt corn type.
8. All nine Bt corn types were originally developed in the USA and were approved for planting, for food and feed use except Starlink corn that was approved for feed use only. However, due to regulatory problems, approval for Starlink corn was withdrawn. Approval for Knockout, NatureGard may also be withdrawn because of their adverse effects on swallowtail butterflies.
9. Outside the USA, approvals of Bt corn for food and feed use are as follows: EEU (counting it as one country), Argentina, Australia, Canada, European Union, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, and UK approved Knockout, NatureGard; Argentina, Australia, Canada, European Union, Japan, Switzerland, and UK approved Yieldgard" (Bt 11); and Argentina, Australia, Canada, European Union, Japan, Switzerland, and South Africa approved Yieldgard" MON810. The other Bt corn types were approved in Argentina, Japan, Canada except Starlink, MON801 and Herculex‰ I which were approved only in the USA.
10. Approvals for commercial planting of Bt corn in other countries are as follows: Argentina, Canada, EEU, Japan and South Africa for Yieldgard" (MON810 ); Argentina, Canada, and European Union for Knockout, NatureGard; Argentina, Canada, and Japan for Bt Xtra‰; Argentina, Canada for Yieldgard" (Bt11); and Canada, Japan for Yieldgard" (MON802) and MON 809.
11. The Bt corn being tested for possible commercial planting in the Philippines is Yieldgard‚ (MON810).
12. In Yr 2000, Bt corn was planted on 8.2 million hectares in the USA, Canada, Argentina, South Africa, Spain and France of which the USA has the biggest area.
13. USDA estimates a significant rise in areas planted to biotech crops especially Bt corn in the USA this year. Biotech corn area will increase from 25% to 32%.
14. All corn imports from the USA, unless otherwise indicated, contain Bt corn because corn from various farms are mixed in storage and processing.
15. Leading importers of US corn grains and products include Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Egypt, South Korea, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and others like the ASEAN (Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam).

References: http://www.essentialbiosafety.info/dbase
Bt-corn by Ric Bessin, Extension Entomologist, University of Kentucky College of Agric http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/fldcrops/ef118.htm
James, C. 2001. Global review of commercialized transgenic crops: 2000. ISAAA Brief No. 23
Vorman, J. Biotech Crop Plantings Rise Again in 2002 Reuters Fri Mar 29, 3:24 AM ET

April 1-15 2002 Articles:

:: "Develop a culture of excellence To be globally competitive"-Ponce
:: 1st nat'l confab on capture fisheries; call for papers
:: National team leaders plan for their networks
:: Region 7 researchers' capability strengthened
:: Project gets nod from external review team
:: Prune and have more fruits
:: A cheap way to fatten lapu-lapu
:: All about Bt corn
:: SEARCA invites media to GMO workshop

::: More April 2002 articles :::