Announcement: COGEM conference on GM viruses

18 may: On October 7th, COGEM is organising a conference on GM viruses as medicine. More info about the programme and speakers will follow soon.

Conference information
Title: GM viruses as medicine; panacea or pandora's box?
Date: Thursday October 7th
Venue: NEMO (Amsterdam)

COGEM comments on EFSA draft guidance for environmental risk analysis of GM plants

3 May 2010: Recently, the EFSA GMO Panel published a draft guidance document on the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants for public consultation of the European member states and stakeholders. COGEM appreciates the extensive amount of effort that is being made to realize this document and acknowledges the difficulties in the task to draw up a guideline which has to cover all aspects of the ERA. However, after assessing the guidance document, COGEM is of the opinion that the document is inadequate in providing clear criteria and methods for the ERA. A series of important discussion points remains unanswered.

Research report: Novel Plant Breeding Techniques

22 December 2009: This report describes consequences of new plant breeding techniques for the environment and food and feed safety. The new plant breeding techniques considered in this report share as common feature that they all make use of a genetic modification step, somewhere in the production of improved plant lines. The aim of this genetic modification is to test plants for specific characteristics, to facilitate breeding, to add genes or alleles that have been isolated from the same species or to make small changes to native genes. Because of the involvement of
a genetic modification step, all these techniques fall under the European Directive 2001/18/EC.
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Research report: Admixture of GM and non-GM crops at import

22 December 2009: Every year, the area of genetically modified (GM) crops worldwide increases. The use of GM crops in food, feed and industry increases as well. Unfortunately, recently some incidents have been reported in which crops or products unintentionally get mixed with (un)authorized GM crops or products. In the EU, the political decision-making on GMOs stagnated, with the result that GMOs are not (yet) authorized in the EU while authorized in other parts of the world. This creates a large gap between the GMOs authorized in the EU and those authorized outside the EU, specifically the Americas.
The Dutch authorities want freedom of choice for their citizens and environmental safety. For this reason they want to prevent admixture. In this project, executed by Schuttelaar & Partners, the supply chains of three crops of which GM varieties are available or are under development have been characterized: potato, maize and rice. The researchers also visited the Rotterdam harbor to see a grain warehouse at work, and studied three cases of admixture: Bt10 maize, Herculex maize and LLRICE601 rice. The research report project provides an overview of the supply chains and the issues relevant for the prevention of admixture.
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Summary Dutch newsletter december 2009

17 December 2009: In total, COGEM issued 11 advices in the last three months of 2009. Five of these advices are available in English. COGEM issued two advices on import and processing for use in feed and food. Both advices concerned genetically modified maize, namely maize line Bt11xGA21, and MON89034xNK603. Furthermore, COGEM advised on the revised molecular characterization of oilseed rape Rf3 and on the cultivation of a genetically modified sugarbeet and a gm-maize line.
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Should EU GMO legislation be updated?

17 November 2009: The EU legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is no longer in step with scientific developments in plant biotechnology. As a result it is no longer clear what should be considered to be GMOs and this has led to an uneven playing field for the European plant breeding industry compared with their colleagues in North America. It also undermines consumer choice and strains the government’s credibility. This situation calls for a rethink of the European legislation. In the report "Should EU legislation be updated; Scientific developments throw new light on the process and product approaches" the similarities and differences between the process and product approaches are discussed. Furthermore, options how to bridge the gap between different legislations are outlined.
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COGEM report "Socio-economic aspects of GMOs"

27 October 2009: The minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM), Jacqueline Cramer, asked COGEM to draw up socio-economic criteria for the application of GMOs in agriculture. COGEM has identified and describes in this report a number of building blocks which could play a part in assessing the contribution that GM crops could make towards ‘more sustainable’ agriculture. The building blocks in this monitoring report are related to commonly recurring key themes in the gene technology debate. The formulated criteria are intended as input in a political and public process in which it is considered how sustainability aspects could be included in the assessment of GMOs.

Research report: Pollen flow out of greenhouses for wind-pollinated species

18 August 2009: Incidental formation of hybrids between cultivated plants and their wild relatives is well documented for areas where they co-occur. While crop-wild hybridization has most likely been going on for ages, the effect of gene escape from cultivated plants into wild plant populations has become cause for public concern, connected to the construction of transgenic crops. Transgenes built into the crop through genetic modification might become introgressed into the genomes of nearby wild relatives. If these newly introduced genes confer a competitive advantage of hybrids over wild relatives, the gene may spread and in the extreme case this might result in invasiveness that can not be easily reversed. This has resulted in increased attention for methods and policies that would circumvent the initial formation of hybrids, and legislation to regulate the use of transgenic plants.
One potential route of gene flow from crops to wild relatives is by outcrossing after pollen escape from a greenhouse. As yet the empirical data on the actual pollen flow from greenhouses is very sparse. This instigated the COGEM to commission a study aiming to gather relevant data on pollen escape from such greenhouses. Researchers from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics and the University of Amsterdam investigated how the presence of insect netting affects pollen escaping from greenhouses.
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Synthetic biology report available in English

6 April 2009: Synthetic biology is currently attracting much interest, probably because some researchers are making exciting claims about the potential applications of synthetic organisms, for which the sky appears to be the limit. Whether these high expectations will ever be met remains questionable. But the fact remains that various organisations have been spurred on to examine this mater in more depth. The House of Representatives has also considered the subject and the environment minister has asked COGEM several questions. The minister has asked COGEM to report, among other topics, on the suitability of the current GMO risk analysis for applications of synthetic biology (particularly synthetic organisms), the monitoring of developments within the research field and the ethical and societal implications of synthetic biology. She has also asked COGEM how government can best facilitate public discussion about this technology.
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Research report: Global Change & Biotechnology

24 February 2009: The Netherlands Commission on Genetic Modification (COGEM) has commissioned a research project to explore to what extent biotechnological solutions to problems of global change are realistic and feasible. Not only technological problems but also issues of social acceptance, global justice and the relations between industrialized and developing countries are relevant in this discussion.
The subject was approached in two ways. Schuttelaar & Partners, a consultancy in the field of health and sustainability, has interviewed 16 internationally recognized experts in the fields of global change as well as in the field of biotechnology. Furthermore, Schuttelaar & Partners has set up an internet based discussion on global change and biotechnology in order to involve other stakeholders. Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR) has done case studies, focusing on causes and solutions for gaps between technological and societal innovation agendas.
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Research report: Designing experimental protocols to investigate the impact of gm crops on non-target Arthropods

24 February 2009: The Netherlands Commission on Genetic Modification (COGEM) has commissioned two research projects on the methodology used for identifying potential effects of GM crops on non-target organisms. In the past, COGEM has raised doubts about the quality and the relevance of the scientific information submitted by applicants about the effects on non-target organisms. COGEM noted that this problem has its roots in the lack of standard criteria or guidance for studies on non-target organisms in the European licensing procedure. The Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) asked COGEM to make concrete proposals for improving the methodology used for identifying potential effects of GM crops on non-target organisms. To provide a sound, evidence-based proposal COGEM commissioned two research projects. The second research report with the title Designing experimental protocols to investigate the impact of GM crops on non-target arthropods is now available on the COGEM website. The report contains recommendations for improving and standardising laboratory experiments to identify potential effects of genetically modified (GM) crops on non-target organisms.
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COGEM provides scientific advice to the government on the risks to human health and the environment of the production and use of GMO's and informs the government of ethical and societal issues linked to genetic modification.