DUGi

Detecting un-authorized genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and derived materials

http://dugi.udg.edu/item/http:@@@@hdl.handle.net@@2072@@296973

Genetically modified plants, in the following referred to as genetically modified organisms or GMOs, have been commercially grown for almost two decades. In 2010 approximately 10% of the total global crop acreage was planted with GMOs (James, 2011). More than 30 countries have been growing commercial GMOs, and many more have performed field trials. Although the majority of commercial GMOs both in terms of acreage and specific events belong to the four species: soybean, maize, cotton and rapeseed, there are another 20. + species where GMOs are commercialized or in the pipeline for commercialization. The number of GMOs cultivated in field trials or for commercial production has constantly increased during this time period. So have the number of species, the number of countries involved, the diversity of novel (added) genetic elements and the global trade. All of these factors contribute to the increasing complexity of detecting and correctly identifying GMO derived material. Many jurisdictions, including the European Union (EU), legally distinguish between authorized (and therefore legal) and un-authorized (and therefore illegal) GMOs. Information about the developments, field trials, authorizations, cultivation, trade and observations made in the official GMO control laboratories in different countries around the world is often limited, despite several attempts such as the OECD BioTrack for voluntary dissemination of data. This lack of information inevitably makes it challenging to detect and identify GMOs, especially the un-authorized GMOs. The present paper reviews the state of the art technologies and approaches in light of coverage, practicability, sensitivity and limitations. Emphasis is put on exemplifying practical detection of un-authorized GMOs. Although this paper has a European (EU) bias when examples are given, the contents have global relevance

This review has partly been made possible as a result of the EU-funded integrated project Co-Extra http://www.coextra.eu (contract FOOD-2005-CT-007158) and discussions within an ad hoc working group of the European Network of GMO Laboratories (ENGL) over several years. AHJ is grateful for financial support from the Norwegian Research Council (grants 170363 and 178288). MP is grateful for financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (project AGL2010-17181). The authors are grateful to numerous colleagues including colleagues from outside Europe for contributing to these discussions. The following colleagues from countries outside the EU are acknowledged for contributing specific information relevant to the preparation of this review: Nelly Datukishvili, Chris Viljoen, Kazumi Kitta, Hiroshi Akiyama, Jasbeer Kaur, Nilson Cesar Castanheira Guimaraes, Luciana Pimenta Ambrozevicius, Marcus Vinicius Segurado Coelho. Without global cooperation it will never become possible to develop effective systems to limit the presence of un-authorized GMOs in the agricultural supply chain

Elsevier