Chemistry
& Industry

Monsanto Shifts Focus To Consumer Benefits

Monsanto has developed its first genetically modified crop with direct benefits to the consumer - a new variety of oilseed rape that cures vitamin A deficiency.

The biotech giant says the crop has the potential to help 80 million people worldwide, particularly children, suffering from conditions including blindness, immunodeficiency and digestive disorders (Plant Journal, 1999.20, 401).

Monsanto is one of several biotech firms scrambling to develop "second-generation" GM crops with benefits that can be sold to consumers. Existing crops are aimed at farmers and processors and have no discernable consumer benefit, which is seen as a key factor in the anti-GM backlash.

The modified rapeseed produces oil rich in B-carotene, which the body can convert into vitamin A. The primary source of B-carotene for most people is fresh fruit and vegetables. However, in developing countries where the staple diet is rice and pulses, vitamin A is hard to come by. Just one teaspoon of the oil could provide the daily recommended intake of vitamin A for an adult.

"We believe we can provide a cost-efficient and convenient way to deliver nutrition to those people who can't afford vegetables or don't have access to dietary supplements, but whose diets already include rapeseed oil," said Christine Shewmaker, who led the Monsanto team that developed the crop.

The scientists created the enriched oil by using a gene from a soil bacterium to increase the level of B-carotene in the rapeseed. The bacterial gene is a close cousin of the plant gene normally responsible for regulating levels of B-carotene production in oilseed rape, Monsanto says.

Monsanto has been growing the plant in field trials in the US and expects to complete further testing for environmental, food and animal safety over the next few years.

Doug Parr, chief scientific advisor for Greenpeace, told C&I that the industry was "naive" if it thought it could crack the GM problem with second-generation crops. "People are concerned in a deep way about genetic engineering. No-one close to the action really thinks vitamins are going to make consumers roll over and say 'yippee'," he said.