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SECOND INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
ON THE ROLE OF SOY
IN PREVENTING AND TREATING CHRONIC DISEASESeptember 15-18, 1996
Brussells, Belgium
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
(Oral Abstracts)Biotechnology and the Soybean
Stephen Rogers.
Monsanto Technical Center, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.Plant biotechnology enables researchers to transfer into crop plants specific genes that allow the expression of desirable traits. The first genetically modified crops primarily were improved with traits for agronomic benefits. These traits include herbicide tolerance, disease protection and insect protection.
One of these products, the glyphosate-tolerant soybean (GTS), has been extensively tested to show "substantial equivalence" with traditionally-bred soybeans. For example, a protein study determined that CP4 EPSPS, the protein introduced by genetic engineering that is expressed in GTS, degrades readily in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids and that the protein poses no allergen concerns because it does not possess characteristics typical of allergenic proteins. Compositional analyses have shown that macronutrients, amino acids, fatty acids and antinutrients measured in GTS are substantially equivalent to the parental, conventional soybean plant. Finally, feeding studies conducted with several species have established that the feeding value of GTS is comparable to the parent line.
Some future genetically modified crops will enhance and improve the nutritional quality of foods. Some current research focuses on alteration of soybean components linked to health benefits, such as altered fatty acid composition, improved amino acid balance and greater levels of potentially beneficial isoflavones. In addition to public awareness, coordinated safety and regulatory oversight of products improved through biotechnology is critical to ensuring worldwide acceptance of these improved crops.
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