THE ROLE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN SAFE, SUSTAINABLE AND PRODUCTIVE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

With increasing populations and diminishing water and land resources, and in the face of imminent climate change challenges, society needs to evaluate and implement any safe and effective tools to achieve food/feed production and sustainability goals. Unfortunately, and unlike the Midwest, California agriculture has been slow to adopt the safe tools of biotechnology to improve agricultural productivity while enhancing environmental sustainability. The reasons for this lag include (among others) an unduly onerous and unscientific regulatory approval system for new crops, and poor public understanding of the actual (as opposed to perceived) risks and benefits of these diverse tools.The project work involves assessing safe and effective ag biotechnology products suitable for US and California agriculture and food production. In addition, I will monitor new developments in both conventional breeding and modern biotechnology, especially the new "non-GMO" genome editing techniques that carry considerable promise to deliver safe, sustainable and efficacious new products. And, as consumers demand safe and sustainable attributes in all new crops and foods, I will continue to analyze the US safety and trade policies from a scientific perspective, to ensure science is used appropriately in risk assessments to identify any potential safety issue prior to commercialization. In addition, scientific literacy among the public, especially regarding agriculture and food, is in a poor state, and I will continue to provide scientifically sound information in an accessible manner to encourage consumers and the general public to understand the actual risks and benefits of new products and methods, thus enabling better informed choices in the marketplace.This project will facilitate increased production of safe, sustainable agricultural products and practices in California and nationally. The increase will occur from the championing of judiciously selected agricultural products and practices deemed superior for safety, sustainability and efficient productivity, and the establishment of a more scientifically sound regulatory system assessing the safety of new products and processes. The increased scientific literacy among the public will enable a deeper, more detailed public discussion of the risks and benefits of agricultural biotechnology than the current superficial, polarized condition. Not only will society then benefit from a more productive and sustainable agriculture, the public will enjoy increased confidence in their own understanding of the science behind the technologies.

Workplan and methods1. Assessment of safe, sustainable ag biotech products appropriate for US and California agriculture. Agricultural products are developed and commercially released on a regular basis. In this objective, I will monitor and evaluate those biotech-derived products most suitable for California agriculture, particularly assessing safety and sustainability features. While the focus remains on California, I will monitor national and international developments and encourage, when appropriate, California connections. The materials will include, but not limited to, peer reviewed papers as well as studies and publications from academics, government agencies, industry, think tanks and other NGOs. I will also maintain my ongoing conduits to our US federal agencies and contribute directly and indirectly to regulatory initiatives such as the current USDA-AMS proposal on Bioengineered food labeling in fulfillment of their Congressional mandate (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/05/04/2018-09389/national-bioengineered-food-disclosure-standard).2. Assessment of emerging biotechnologies of relevance to California, including new breeding techniques (NBTs) "genome editing".The group of genetic modification technologies grouped as "Genome editing" or new Breeding Techniques" are transforming agriculture and will play an increasingly major role both here and internationally. Materials will include standard peer-reviewed publications as well as data from other professional and non-professional sources, ranging from patent documents to marketing materials. I will maintain my involvement in the critical analyses and dissemination of information to relevant stakeholders and the interested public via lectures, presentations and publications, both in social media and in print. 3. Regulatory policy assessment, with a focus on science based safety and trade policies.Fulfilling this objective entails monitoring and acquiring regulatory policy working documents/proposals, and their underpinning scientific studies, from USDA, FDA and EPA, as well as equivalent resources from counterpart agencies in EU, Canada, and other trading partners as appropriate. An example of work output under this objective includes the recent publication of a major policy analysis, published by CAST (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology), for which I served as Chair. (CAST, 2018).4. Increasing and encouraging science literacy among the general public, especially regarding biotechnology and genetics.Fulfilling this objective entails continuing public engagement, using a range of approaches, from traditional (public presentations, lectures, etc.) to increasingly crucial social media and other electronic media presence. I will continue to engage with university students (e.g. via guest lectures at UCR, UCLA and elsewhere) and informal community groups (e.g. Palm Desert "Board Mens Club") to more professional and academic communities (e.g., invited presentations to Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB) and Analytical Excellence through Industry Collaboration (AEIC). Almost all of my presentations, whether to professional audiences or informal public groups, are initiated by invitations from the organizers, who (typically but not invariably) cover my travel expense costs.While the impact of my efforts are difficult to measure directly or specifically, it is clear there is growing interest and corresponding diminishing anxiety over the appropriately regulated use of biotechnology in agriculture and food production. This shift in public opinion is evident in the increasing quality of questions arising from the public (in, for example, social media and in responses to requests for comments to federal agency regulatory proposals), and the concomitant diminution in anti-biotechnology activist campaigns based on pseudo-science and fearmongering.Overall, my project will collate and integrate varied biotechnological research to advance sustainable agriculture. The analyses will focus on how safe new biotechnology derived products (or technologies) might be applied to increase agricultural sustainability here, regardless of where the research was conducted initially, or on which species, or the specific trait(s) involved.Biotechnology has had a major impact on major field crops, such as corn, soy and cotton, where over 90% of the US acreage is now sown to GE cultivars. However, genetic engineering methods to develop more sustainable cultivars of minor crops (especially those of importance to California agriculture) have been slow to reach commerce. Nevertheless, there remains considerable potential for that approach. Most urgent at present relates to the threat to the California citrus industry from HLB or 'Citrus greening'. The Florida citrus industry has been decimated by this devastating disease, which has no known cure and only marginally effective (delaying the inevitable) treatments. As HLB is now gaining a foothold in California, various researchers are developing multiple approaches to overcoming the disease, with several biotechnological tools in various stages of R&D, including field trials of citrus lines genetically engineered to confer resistance.In addition, the so-called New Breeding Techniques (NBTs), or 'genome editing' are already providing new opportunities to breed more sustainable crop cultivars without some of the perceived undesirable features of transgenics, as seen with 'traditional' genetic engineering. The NBTs, instead of transferring genetic material from distant--sometimes pathogenic--species as with transgenic genetic engineering, relies on modifications to the endogenous genome, and thus mollifies at least some of the fears of those wary of genetic engineering.Regulatory policy is currently in flux, with regulatory agencies (esp. USDA, FDA and EPA) reviewing and revising regulations governing agricultural biotechnology. Academics are often sought by our agencies to provide analyses of current regulatory policy and of proposed changes, and can have considerable influence in the final outcomes. There are several opportunities for academic scientists to promote practicable, science based approaches to safety regulation. For example, last year, USDA-AMS was charged by Congress with creating a National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, with a draft currently open for public input. As might be expected, a wide diversity of opinions--from very hostile to very supportive- are being voiced. How USDA-AMS will use this input remains to be seen, but the final outcome will be a new food labeling policy protected by statute, so it behooves us to ensure it is scientifically sound and practicable.Finally, the implications of the technical research will be translated to be more accessible (via extension efforts) to non-experts, including producers, government regulators, and the interested public. Among my 'regular' stakeholders include Master Gardeners and industry groups, ranging from the US Grains Council (responsible for international marketing of US corn and other grains) to local producer groups, such as the California Melon Research Board. In addition, I also serve interested public organizations, from local community associations seeking credible scientific information on food safety to schools and colleges requesting lectures on these same topics.