BIOTECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE TO ACHIEVE PLANT PEST AND DISEASE RESISTANCE

Biotechnology applications are primarily proprietary, with similar to 70% of the annual global research expenditures of US$11 x 10(9) being in the private sector. The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) addresses this challenge by building a new partnership of three donor groups (bilateral/multilateral agencies, private philanthropic foundations, and private companies) to support a not-for-profit institution within existing centres of excellence (Cornell University in North America, John Innes Centre in Europe, Technova in the Asian Pacific Rim, and three additional locations to be established in developing countries). Brokered projects involve only near-term technologies with a high probability of success, using tissue culture/micropropagation, disease diagnostics and transgenic plants. The main targets for transgenic plants are coat protein-mediated protection for non-conventional virus resistance (NCVR) and insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt); both NCVR and Bt can contribute to integrated pest management strategies using reduced inputs for chemical control of insects. Four ISAAA projects demonstrate the potential of NCVR and Bt in developing countries: (1) potato resistant to potato viruses X and Y with Mexico/Monsanto/Rockefeller Foundation, (2) melon resistant to cucumber mosaic virus with Costa Rica/Asgrow Seed/USAID and the ISAAA Fellowship Program, (3) papaya resistant to papaya ringspot virus with Brazil and other countries/Cornell University/Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (EMBRAPA), and (4) cotton resistant to Lepidoptera with Brazil/EMBRAPA. Although over 1000 field trials of transgenic plants have taken place worldwide, those experiments have been mostly small scale and do not provide sufficient data to assess either the durability of resistance achieved with genetic engineering or conclusive public acceptance of this technology. However, resistance management modelling is speculative and can not decisively indicate a deployment strategy in the absence of continued monitoring and experimentation. ISAAA's projects should allow opportunities for assessment of resistance management practices for applied plant biotechnology to control agricultural pests under diverse production systems.