Brazil’s transgenic sugarcane stirs up controversy

[RIO DE JANEIRO] A genetically modified (GM）可以杀死甘蔗鲍尔的甘蔗品种（Diatraea saccharalis)has been approved in Brazil, to the delight of some scientists and the dismay of others, who say it may threaten Brazilianbiodiversity。

巴西是仅次于印度尼西亚的第二个国家，批准了GM甘蔗的商业种植。巴西国家生物安全技术委员会宣布了批准（CTNBio) on June 8.

甘蔗硼是巴西中南部甘蔗田的主要害虫之一，每年损失约15亿美元。

“Breeding programmes could not produce plants resistant to this pest, and the existing chemical controls are both not effective and severely damaging to thebeplay足球体育的微博,” says Adriana Hemerly, a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, in an interview withscidev.net。

“在巴西外进行的研究证明，基因改良生物的蛋白质会损害非目标昆虫，土壤动物和微生物。”

Rogério Magalhães

“因此,转基因品种是一个生物技术tool that helps solve a problem that other technologies could not, and its commercial application will certainly have a positive impact on the productivity of sugarcane in the country.”

CTNBIO成员兼PaulistaJúliode Mesquita Filho州立大学教授的耶稣Aparecido Ferro认为，此举是在2015年12月开始的一场彻底的辩论之后 - 那是Canavieira技术中心（Sugarcane Research Center）要求获得批准的情况。培养GM甘蔗品种。

“The data does not provide evidence that the cane variety has a potential to harm the environment or human or animal health,” Ferro toldscidev.net。

为了发展多样性，科学家从细菌中插入了毒素[CRY]的基因Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt)甘蔗染色体组e, so it could produce its own insecticide against some insects’ larvae.

This is a technology that “has been in use for 20 years and is very safe”, says Aníbal Eugênio Vercesi, another member of the CTNBio, and a professor at the State University of Campinas.

But Valério De Patta Pillar, also a member of the CTNBio and a professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, points to deficiencies in environmental risk assessment studies for the GM variety — and the absence of assessments of how consuming it might affect humans and animals.

根据Pillar的说法，缺乏有关其野生品种繁殖的频率的数据。还缺少有关用于创建GM品种及其广泛使用效果的技术的问题。

Rogério Magalhães, an environmental analyst at Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment, also expressed concern about the approval of the commercial transgenic cane.

“I understand that studies related to the impacts that genetically modified sugarcane might have on Brazilian biodiversity were not done by the company that owns the technology,” said Magalhães in an interview withscidev.net。This is very important because Brazil’s climate, species, and soils differ from locations where studies might have taken place, he explained.

Among the risks that Magalhães identified is contamination of the GM variety’s wild relatives. “The wild relative, when contaminated with transgenic sugarcane, will have a competitive advantage over other uncontaminated individuals, as it will exhibit resistance to insect-plague that others will not have,” he explained.

Magalhães警告的另一种风险是对生物多样性的损害。“在巴西外进行的研究证明，基因修饰的生物哭泣蛋白质会损害非目标昆虫，土壤动物群和微生物。”

Magalhães added that some pests have already developed resistance to the Bt Cry protein, prompting farmers to apply agrochemicals that are harmful to the environment and human health.

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