How biotech crops are created

Octavia Avesca Spandiel reports on how biotechnology has revolutionised agriculture, offering innovative solutions to challenges such as pest resistance, drought tolerance, and food security.

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Speaking to Farmer's Weekly, Chantel Arendse, lead of plant biotechnology at CropLife South Africa, says that for millennia, farmers have relied on conventional breeding techniques to enhance crop traits such as higher yields, pest resistance, and improved nutrition. “These methods involve crossing plants with desirable characteristics and selectively breeding the best offspring over multiple generations. However, this process is time-consuming and unpredictable,” she says.

She adds that plant biotechnology is an advancement of these traditional methods. It enables scientists to introduce specific beneficial genes directly into a plant's genome, creating genetically modified (GM) or biotech crops. “This allows for greater precision, ensuring that only the desired trait is incorporated without affecting other characteristics of the plant,” she says.

THE GENETIC MODIFICATION PROCESS

According to Arendse, genetic modification begins in a laboratory, where scientists use molecular tools to identify a gene with a known beneficial function in one organism. This gene is then copied and inserted into the DNA of a target plant.

Unlike traditional breeding, which shuffles genes through multiple generations, genetic modification allows for the targeted introduction of a single beneficial trait.

An example given by Arendse is when a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was introduced into maize to create Bt maize, which is resistant to insect pests. The inserted Bt gene enables the plant to produce a protein toxic to specific pests while remaining safe for human consumption and non-target organisms.

KEY TRAITS INTRODUCED IN BIOTECH CROPS

Arendse says the three most widely adopted biotech traits are:

• Insect resistance (IR): Protects crops from damage caused by targeted insect pests, reducing the need for chemical pesticides.