Genetically Modified Organisms

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Bioenergy > Issues > Environmental issues > Genetic Modification/Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)/ Biotechnology

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Slides from a presentation made by David Glass Ph.D at the EUEC 2010 conference.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are living organisms whose genome has been artificially modified by man (through genetic engineering, also known as "biotechnology"), for example to improve resistance to disease in the case of crops.

GMOs also include organisms developed for the processing of biofuels, a potentially promising area of research and development. In the future, issues such as resistance to drought or disease, in addition to pesticide resistance, may become a focus of the development of GMO crops.

• See the BioenergyWiki page on the RSB principle on Biotechnologies and its associated "talk" page.

News

• Scientists Identify Enzyme That Could Help Grow Biofuel Crops In Harsh Environments, 19 October 2009 by ScienceDaily: "Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified a novel enzyme responsible for the formation of suberin — the woody, waxy, cell-wall substance found in cork....Adjusting the permeability of plant tissues by genetically manipulating the expression of this enzyme could lead to easier agricultural production of crops used for biofuels."
  • "For example, if certain breeds can be created that are more adept at absorbing and storing water and nutrients, the crops could be farmed in much drier climates — maybe even the desert."
  • "These approaches to biofuel agriculture would leave more-fertile land open for food crops, helping to strike a much-needed balance between the nutrition and energy needs of the world."[1]

• Environmental groups expose Biofuel technology threats to Global Biodiversity, 15 September 2008 Press Release in The Canadian: The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) and the STOP GE Trees Campaign issued a press release in opposition to the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) conference held in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
  • "'The biotechnology industry has pounced on the tremendous hype over biofuels to push out all of their nightmarish technologies, even pushing the use of genetically engineered trees for transport fuel,' said conference attendee Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of CBAN and member of the North American STOP GE Trees Campaign."
  • "'We want no part of this nightmarish future where trees are genetically engineered to fill our gas tanks,' said Tony Beck of the Society for a GE Free BC."[2]

• Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol, 14 June 2008 in The Times Online. The Silicon Valley company LS9 is using genetically modified microorganisms to produce 'renewable petroleum'. However, the technology is still not ready for commercialization.
  • Also see 2007 article on the same company in Technology Review: Making Gasoline from Bacteria

• World Rainforest Movement calls for ban on genetic engineering of trees in Open letter to all members of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) (February 2008), including genetic modification to make certain trees more suited to the production of cellulosic ethanol. The statement read in part:
  • "research is being carried out to develop eucalyptus trees with a higher cellulose content for the production of cellulose for paper and for the production of ethanol. This would mean reducing the amount of lignin, the component that provides trees with structural strength, thus making them more susceptible to suffering -- as well as causing -- serious damage during wind storms."[3]

• Efficient Biofuel Made From Genetically Modified E. Coli Bacteria, 7 January 2008 from ScienceDaily, reported that scientists at the California university UCLA "have developed a new method for producing next-generation biofuels by genetically modifying Escherichia coli bacteria to be an efficient biofuel synthesizer." The bacteria can create branched-chain alcohols, such as isobutanol, which could be more useful as liquid fuels than ethanol.

Events

2009

• 3-6 May 2009, San Francisco, California, USA: 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals (Themes: sustainable fuels, biotechnology)

• 19-22 July 2009, Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Sixth Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioprocessing (Themes: biotechnology)

• 1-2 December 2009, Hamburg, Germany: International Algae Congress 2009. (Themes: algae, biodiesel, biotechnology)

	Environment	edit
Climate change - Greenhouse gases | Ecosystems (Forests, Grasslands, Wetlands) | Life-cycle analysis Species (Biodiversity, Invasive species, Orangutans) Biotechnology/Genetically Modified Organisms | Pollution | Soil (Soil erosion) Land - Desertification | REDD RSB Working Group on Environment

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