Genetically-modified foods and products have been a red rag
to most Europeans. Belatedly, however, the 15-member European Union has woken up
to the need to tap bio resources as it readies to face the competition not just
from across the Atlantic but the rest of the world too.
What better way than producing a document, " Plants for
the future: a 2025 vision for European plant biotechnology." A senior EU
official outlined the document's contents at the BIO meeting in Philadelphia.
Two days after BIO ended, it was unveiled in Brussels on June 24.
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biochemical shakes up US energy sector
With the petroleum
pricing touching a global record price of $60 per barrel, the world is
looking seriously at alternative products to replace the fossil fuel
based economy. Anything that can minimize the use of petroleum products
is bound to have a major impact on the global economy.
In this context, two
biotech majors, Codexis and Cargill, have announced a breakthrough in
developing a novel microbial process that will convert corn sugar to a
chemical intermediate. This process is an important milestone in the
development of a new renewable chemical platform.
When fully
commercialized, the industrial biotech process will convert dextrose
derived from corn to a chemical intermediate known as 3,
hydroxyproprionic acid (3HP).
"With natural gas
and crude oil prices going through the roof, the commercialization of
this renewable chemical platform should be great news for the chemical
industry. The chemical industry needs new feedstocks to stay
competitive, and this chemical platform will be based on corn, not
foreign oil. Furthermore, the biobased economy that is evolving is about
more than just ethanol," Brent Erickson, BIO's executive VP (
industiral and environemnt) announced.
The new process will
utilize very low-cost, clean agricultural feedstocks instead of
petroleum to produce 3HP. 3HP is a key intermediate for several
commercially important chemicals. The chemicals that can be produced
from 3HP include acrylic acid, acrylamide and 1,3 propanediol. Acrylic
acid and its derivatives are used to create a wide range of
polymer-based consumer and industrial products, such as adhesives,
paints, polishes, protective coatings, and sealants. This new process is
cheaper and more environmental friendly than the old process that uses
petroleum as a feedstock.
Industrial biotechnology
converges seamlessly with other scientific disciplines and is a powerful
source of innovation for new products and processes, stated Erickson.
"The global acrylic
acid market is worth over $4 billion. This breakthrough is going to
shake up the chemical industry and it will help US companies that adopt
it to be more competitive in the global marketplace," he said.
"The interface between industrial
biotechnology and agricultural production provides the ability to
produce inexpensive, natural raw materials such as sugars and lipids for
manufacturing biobased products. Sugars and lipids from agricultural
crops can be used in many products, replacing increasingly expensive oil
and natural gas, which are currently the main feedstocks of the chemical
industry," Erickson added.
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"As the world's population will grow from 6 to 9
billion over the next 50 years, and fossil resources will diminish, the need for
food, bio-fuels and bio-materials from renewable, plant-based resources will
increase," said the EU official.
Leading representatives from research, the food and biotech
industry, the farming community and consumer organizations presented to European
Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin a long-term vision for European plant
biotechnology towards 2025.
The paper identifies three priorities: to produce more
affordable, healthy and better quality food products; encourage environmental
and agricultural sustainability; and enhance competitiveness in European
agriculture, industry and forestry.
Stakeholders and policymakers will participate in the new
technology platform on plant biotechnology to deliver a strategic research
agenda by the end of the year.
"Despite Europe having been at the forefront of plant
science and biotechnology, its leading position has drastically deteriorated in
recent years, due to public concerns over the impact of these technologies,
insufficient communication of the benefits of this technology to the public, and
lack of strategic research programs as compared to our competitors," said
Philippe Busquin. "This is alarming in view of the challenges Europe is
facing: providing a growing world population with more healthy foodstuffs in a
sustainable way and replacing fossil-based materials with new, environmentally
sound bio-materials made from renewable plant resources".
Lagging behind
While US biotech firms spend $650 million a year on R&D, their EU
counterparts invest only $400 million. Last year, the American government
launched a National Plant Genome Initiative with a total budget of $1.1 billion
from 2003 to 2008. EU-15 support is estimated to be around $80 million annually.
Towards a sustainable bio-economy
Agricultural production accounts for 17 million farms in Europe and eight
percent of the EU-25 workforce, while the agro-food industry has a $600 billion
annual turnover. The vision paper highlights the role biotechnology and genomics
can play in helping the EU move to a knowledge based bio-economy that uses
renewable plant resources.
New stress-resistant plants will be capable of increased
agricultural productivity, despite increased seasonal instabilities and climate
change, while also requiring less fertilizer, pesticide and water. The research
agenda can also increase genetic diversity of plant crops, and boost the
development of "green" materials, including bio-fuels.
The vision
The vision paper calls for a European technology platform on plant
biotechnology research aimed at:
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Developing a strategic research agenda covering genomics,
physiology, agronomy, ecology, bioinformatics and other emerging skills
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Boosting public and private R&D investment and
enhancing research transparency
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Strengthening industry support for the platform's
research agenda
- Promoting societal consensus through mutual understanding and
communication.
