Biotechnology - solution or problem?

In biotechnology, a living organism - either a whole organism, a cell, or a part of a cell, such as an enzyme - acts as an intermediary to transform a starting product into a desired end product. In fact, biotechnology is not a recent invention. When we use yeast to make bread, we are using principles of biotechnology - yeast is a living organism. We did not have to wait until 1953 for Watson and Crick to discover the structure of DNA, or the developments in molecular and cell biology of the 1970s, says Albert Sasson, Doctor of Natural Sciences and Special Adviser to the Director-General of UNESCO. Pasteur was a biotechnologist, as was Alexander Fleming, who used a variety of mould (Penicillium notatum) to produce an antibiotic that helps to fight against disease.

Biotechnology and genetic engineering

Genetic engineering is not a biotechnology, but a technique, developed through decades of basic research in cell and molecular biology. Today it is possible to identify a gene, to isolate it, cut it, insert it and transfer it. This is what we understand as genetic manipulation or genetic engineering. Genetic engineering has made it possible to improve our understanding of the living organism and to apply this knowledge to the life and activities of man - for example, in food, agricultural production, forestry, animal rearing, horticulture, public health, vaccines, reproduction, the production of energy and combatting pollution.

Most biotechnologies pose no ethical or social problems and are useful, says Sasson. For example by using micro-propagation you can make thousands of identical plants and can supply agriculture with potatoes, strawberries and so on all year round. What is more, they are virus-free, so production is greater. But there is no genetic engineering involved. All we have done is to exploit a natural property of plants cells - called totipotency - to produce plants that are identical to the one the cell was taken from. There are thousands of millions of these 'test tube plants' or 'vitroplants' produced in the world. The flower market is enormous. Even poor countries have become major producers of vitroplants.

Forestry also makes use of this technique. Since man has been cultivating plants, he has been cross-breeding them to improve them. But seeds take a long time to germinate. Now, using these new techniques, once a plant with valuable qualities, like robustness, speed of growth, juicy fruit, has been found, it can be reproduced by the million. With genetic engineering, we accelerate the conventional process of isolating genes and transferring them. Instead of having a new strain of wheat in ten years we have it in five.

The technique depends on isolating the gene whose function one wants to use. A current - but controversial - application is resistance to disease. More than 30 percent of crop losses at harvest are due to pests. Biotechnology can reduce these post-harvest losses by making seeds more resistant to parasites and by increasing production. Genetic engineering can contribute 10 percent or 20 percent to such increases, says Sasson. The rest comes from irrigation, pesticides, soil conservation. But, he says, biotechnology is not a panacea - we will not abandon conventional techniques.

Genetically modified foods. Using genetic engineering it is possible to insert a gene into a plant, so that it is passed on to subsequent generations. For example, some insect pests are sensitive to a toxin produced by a common soil bacterium. Conventionally, a solution of the toxin is sprayed onto plants, to be ingested by insects eating the leaves. But, if it rains, the spray will be washed onto the soil and have no effect. Similarly, if there is a drought, the spray will dry out and have less of an effect. With genetic engineering it is possible to isolate the bacterium gene that controls synthesis of this toxin and insert it into the plant. When the caterpillar eats the leaf with the bacterium gene, the gene will produce a toxin and kill the larva.

The planting of these kinds of genetically modified organisms (GMO) has met with opposition in some countries. The UK still has a temporary ban on commercial planting of GM crops until risk assessment trials have been carried out. And the Spanish government is asking companies that produce or plant genetically modified crops to contribute to a US$100 million insurance fund to cover environmental accidentsl. But, in 1998, farmers in USA had planted 20 million acres (8 million hectares) of farmland with genetically modified maize, potatoes and cotton.

One of the risks is that the GMO will interfere with the environment. Pollen carried on the wind could pollinate wild varieties of the modified plant, producing hybrids with unknown characteristics. But, says Sasson, pollen only travels from 100 metres to one kilometre. So the transgenic variety has to be separated by one kilometre from other varieties. We must take these risks into consideration. Wild varieties of colza exist in parts of Europe, such as France, so we should wait before introducing genetically-modified varieties. But there are no wild varieties of corn in France. We must do a risk-benefit analysis for each case, for each plant and environment. Apart from carrying out tests to guarantee that the food is safe, some countries also insist that genetically modified food products - or those with GM ingredients - should say so on the label.

Genetic engineering in medicine

Insulin, growth hormone and diagnostic tests (e.g. for pregnancy or HIV) are made using genetic engineering techniques. But, perhaps because drugs are subjected to batteries of tests lasting as long as ten years, there is less public concern. Plants - like potatoes or bananas - can be modified to produce a vaccine. And some drugs can come from transgenic animals whose genetic material has been modified to produce a therapeutic protein in their milk. More controversial, though, is the transfer of human genes to animals, such as the pig, so that a kidney or a lung from the animal can be transplanted to human patients without being rejected.

When we come to man, says Sasson, we can no longer talk of biotechnology. We cannot use man as the living milieu to produce something. Several governments have already acted to impose limits on the use of genetic engineering on humans, particularly where the changes will be passed on to an individual's children. And when UNESCO's International Bioethics Committee drafted a Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, it was adopted by all 186 Member States (11 November 1997) and subsequently by the UN General Assembly (9 December 1998).