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Is FAO selling biotech short on biofuels?

Nature Biotechnology volume 27, pages 22–23 (2009)Cite this article

To the Editor:

Worse yet they ignore the toxicological and environmental dangers of some of these crops. Castor bean and Jatropha curcas (common name: vomit nut), sources of the closely related, exceedingly potent ricin and curcin are widely discussed, and Jatropha has an entire box dedicated to its culture (“Jatropha—a 'miracle' crop?”), where the answer on balance is “yes.” Nowhere in the report do curcin or ricin appear, nor is there a mention of the cancer potentiators and allergens in Jatropha. Unlike soybeans, the protein of the seed of both crops is poisonous (but can be partially detoxified by autoclaving), so there is no possibility of feeding the protein to livestock. No environmental impact or worker toxicological studies have been published that deal with the implications of applying the residues to farmers' fields, as they suggest. The toxins could be eliminated by antisense or RNAi technology, and the residues used as feed. Where is the FAO in dealing with farmer safety? Imagine releasing a transgenic crop with such properties. They do not even cite those who have analyzed and questioned the economics of Jatropha3. Is the FAO really interested in keeping poor farmers poor? Alas transgenics could rapidly solve many of these problems in domestication that the FAO so glibly ignores4,5. So many of the troublesome genes are known, the crops have been previously transformed, but if organizations, such as the FAO, do not recognize the problems, who will deal with the biotechnological solutions?

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References

  1. FAO. The State of Food and Agriculture; Biofuels: Prospects, Risks and Opportunities (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 2008). <ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0100e/i0100e.pdf>

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  1. Plant Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76604, Israel

    Jonathan Gressel

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  1. Jonathan Gressel
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Competing interests

J.G. works part-time for a biotech startup dealing with generating transgenic algae for protein and oil that could be used as edible oil for making biodiesel. Algae are mentioned in passing in one sentence in the article, and as only one of many other examples that are more important. This could be stretched to imply a conflicting interest and is best stated for reasons of full transparency.

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Gressel, J. Is FAO selling biotech short on biofuels?. Nat Biotechnol 27, 22–23 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0109-22

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