BIOENGINEERED 2016, VOL. 7, NO. 1, 1–2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21655979.2016.1153357
EDITORIAL
Bio-bites! Scotland bans GM Crops: a Controversy The Scottish Government has submitted a request that Scotland is excluded from any European consents for the cultivation of GM crops, including the variety of genetically modified maize already approved and six other GM crops that are awaiting authorisation. Thus, the Scottish Gevernment makes use of the amendment to Directive 2001/18/EC which allows Member States to restrict or ban the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) within their territory. Reasons given for this step are fears that GM crops might harm the green and clean image of the country, as well as a lack of demand for GM crops. Representatives from 28 scientific institutions across the U.K. have released an open letter in disagreement with the decision stating that this consigns Scotland to ageing agricultural practices, risks constraining Scotland’s contribution to research; leaving the country without access to agricultural innovations that are making farming more sustainable elsewhere in the world.” The Scottish Government NewsRoom GM Crop Ban Published August, 2015 Available from: http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/GM-crop-ban1bd2.aspx Sense About Science 14a Clerkenwell Green Published August18, 2015 Available from: http://www.senseaboutscience.org/news.php/451/letterto-scottish-government-from-research-organisations Opioid production in yeast For thousands of years, yeast has been used for making beer, bread, and wine. In modern times, it has CONTACT Margit C. Pacher-Zavisin © 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
become a commercial workhorse for producing fuels, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals such as insulin, human serum albumin, and vaccines against hepatitis virus and human papillomavirus. Yeast has also been engineered to make chemicals at industrial scale (e.g., succinic acid, lactic acid, resveratrol) and advanced biofuels (e.g., isobutanol). Now, Galanie et al. have engineered yeast to produce the opioids thebaine and hydrocodone, a major class of compounds used for treating severe pain, starting from sugar. This involved the expression of genes for more than 20 enzymatic activities from plants, mammals, bacteria, and yeast itself. This study is considered a breakthrough advance for making complex natural products in a controlled and sustainable way. Complete biosynthesis of opioids in yeast. Galanie S, Thodey K, Trenchard IJ, Filsinger Interrante M, Smolke CD. Science. 2015 Sep 4;349(6252):1095-100 Yeast cell factories on the horizon Jens Nielsen Science, September 4, 2015 Vol. 349 no. 6252 pp. 1050-1051 Will Genetically Modified Pigs be Organ Donors in Future? In October, at a meeting of the US National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC on human gene editing, geneticist George Church of Harvard Medical School, announced that he and his colleagues had used the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology to inactivate 62 porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) in pig embryos. These viruses are embedded in all pigs’ genomes and cannot be treated or neutralized. It is feared that they could cause disease in human transplant recipients. Church’s group also
[email protected]
2
BIO-BITES!
modified more than 20 genes in a separate set of pig embryos, including genes that are known to trigger a human immune response or cause blood clotting. Pigs intended for organ transplants would need both these modifications and the PERV deletions. By modifying more than 60 genes in pig embryos — ten times more than have been edited in any other animal — researchers believe they may have produced a suitable non-human organ donor. Gene-editing record smashed in pigs Sara Reardon Nature, October 6, 2015 doi:10.1038/nature.2015.18525 First Oncolytic Virus Threapy Approved by FDA In a press release in October, the FDA announced its approval to Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec), an oncolytic virus therapy, for the treatment of melanoma lesions in the skin and lymph nodes. Imlygic, a genetically modified live oncolytic herpes virus therapy, is used to treat melanoma lesions that cannot be removed completely by surgery. Imlygic is injected directly into the melanoma lesions, where it replicates inside cancer cells and causes the cells to rupture and die. Imlygic is manufactured by BioVex Inc., a subsidiary of Amgen Inc., based in Thousand Oaks, California. FDA News Release FDA approves first-of-its-kind product for the treatment of melanoma October 27, 2015 Available from: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAn nouncements/ucm469571.htm GM Salmon Wins FDA Approval
The FDA has approved AquaBounty Technologies’ application for AquAdvantage Salmon, an Atlantic salmon that reaches market size more quickly than non-GE farm-raised Atlantic salmon. It is engineered to have a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon and a promoter from the eel-like ocean pout. “The FDA has thoroughly analyzed and evaluated the data and information submitted by AquaBounty Technologies regarding AquAdvantage Salmon and determined that they have met the regulatory requirements for approval, including that food from the fish is safe to eat,” said Bernadette Dunham, D.V.M., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. The AquAdvantage Salmon may be raised only in land-based, contained hatchery tanks in two specific facilities in Canada and Panama. The FDA has determined that the approval of the AquAdvantage Salmon application would not have a significant environmental impact because of the multiple and redundant measures being taken to contain the fish and prevent their escape and establishment in the environment. These measures include a series of multiple and redundant levels of physical barriers placed in the tanks and in the plumbing that carries water out of the facilities to prevent the escape of eggs and fish. Finally, the AquAdvantage Salmon are reproductively sterile so that even in the highly unlikely event of an escape, they would be unable to interbreed or establish populations in the wild. FDA News Release FDA takes several actions involving genetically engineered plants and animals for food November 19, 2015 http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAn nouncements/ucm473249.htm
EDITORIAL
Bio-bites! Scotland bans GM Crops: a Controversy The Scottish Government has submitted a request that Scotland is excluded from any European consents for the cultivation of GM crops, including the variety of genetically modified maize already approved and six other GM crops that are awaiting authorisation. Thus, the Scottish Gevernment makes use of the amendment to Directive 2001/18/EC which allows Member States to restrict or ban the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) within their territory. Reasons given for this step are fears that GM crops might harm the green and clean image of the country, as well as a lack of demand for GM crops. Representatives from 28 scientific institutions across the U.K. have released an open letter in disagreement with the decision stating that this consigns Scotland to ageing agricultural practices, risks constraining Scotland’s contribution to research; leaving the country without access to agricultural innovations that are making farming more sustainable elsewhere in the world.” The Scottish Government NewsRoom GM Crop Ban Published August, 2015 Available from: http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/GM-crop-ban1bd2.aspx Sense About Science 14a Clerkenwell Green Published August18, 2015 Available from: http://www.senseaboutscience.org/news.php/451/letterto-scottish-government-from-research-organisations Opioid production in yeast For thousands of years, yeast has been used for making beer, bread, and wine. In modern times, it has CONTACT Margit C. Pacher-Zavisin © 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
become a commercial workhorse for producing fuels, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals such as insulin, human serum albumin, and vaccines against hepatitis virus and human papillomavirus. Yeast has also been engineered to make chemicals at industrial scale (e.g., succinic acid, lactic acid, resveratrol) and advanced biofuels (e.g., isobutanol). Now, Galanie et al. have engineered yeast to produce the opioids thebaine and hydrocodone, a major class of compounds used for treating severe pain, starting from sugar. This involved the expression of genes for more than 20 enzymatic activities from plants, mammals, bacteria, and yeast itself. This study is considered a breakthrough advance for making complex natural products in a controlled and sustainable way. Complete biosynthesis of opioids in yeast. Galanie S, Thodey K, Trenchard IJ, Filsinger Interrante M, Smolke CD. Science. 2015 Sep 4;349(6252):1095-100 Yeast cell factories on the horizon Jens Nielsen Science, September 4, 2015 Vol. 349 no. 6252 pp. 1050-1051 Will Genetically Modified Pigs be Organ Donors in Future? In October, at a meeting of the US National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC on human gene editing, geneticist George Church of Harvard Medical School, announced that he and his colleagues had used the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology to inactivate 62 porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) in pig embryos. These viruses are embedded in all pigs’ genomes and cannot be treated or neutralized. It is feared that they could cause disease in human transplant recipients. Church’s group also
[email protected]
2
BIO-BITES!
modified more than 20 genes in a separate set of pig embryos, including genes that are known to trigger a human immune response or cause blood clotting. Pigs intended for organ transplants would need both these modifications and the PERV deletions. By modifying more than 60 genes in pig embryos — ten times more than have been edited in any other animal — researchers believe they may have produced a suitable non-human organ donor. Gene-editing record smashed in pigs Sara Reardon Nature, October 6, 2015 doi:10.1038/nature.2015.18525 First Oncolytic Virus Threapy Approved by FDA In a press release in October, the FDA announced its approval to Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec), an oncolytic virus therapy, for the treatment of melanoma lesions in the skin and lymph nodes. Imlygic, a genetically modified live oncolytic herpes virus therapy, is used to treat melanoma lesions that cannot be removed completely by surgery. Imlygic is injected directly into the melanoma lesions, where it replicates inside cancer cells and causes the cells to rupture and die. Imlygic is manufactured by BioVex Inc., a subsidiary of Amgen Inc., based in Thousand Oaks, California. FDA News Release FDA approves first-of-its-kind product for the treatment of melanoma October 27, 2015 Available from: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAn nouncements/ucm469571.htm GM Salmon Wins FDA Approval
The FDA has approved AquaBounty Technologies’ application for AquAdvantage Salmon, an Atlantic salmon that reaches market size more quickly than non-GE farm-raised Atlantic salmon. It is engineered to have a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon and a promoter from the eel-like ocean pout. “The FDA has thoroughly analyzed and evaluated the data and information submitted by AquaBounty Technologies regarding AquAdvantage Salmon and determined that they have met the regulatory requirements for approval, including that food from the fish is safe to eat,” said Bernadette Dunham, D.V.M., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. The AquAdvantage Salmon may be raised only in land-based, contained hatchery tanks in two specific facilities in Canada and Panama. The FDA has determined that the approval of the AquAdvantage Salmon application would not have a significant environmental impact because of the multiple and redundant measures being taken to contain the fish and prevent their escape and establishment in the environment. These measures include a series of multiple and redundant levels of physical barriers placed in the tanks and in the plumbing that carries water out of the facilities to prevent the escape of eggs and fish. Finally, the AquAdvantage Salmon are reproductively sterile so that even in the highly unlikely event of an escape, they would be unable to interbreed or establish populations in the wild. FDA News Release FDA takes several actions involving genetically engineered plants and animals for food November 19, 2015 http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAn nouncements/ucm473249.htm
