Beijing, China
September 13, 2007
GM corn 'improves animal feed,
cuts pollution'
Source: SciDev.Net
Chinese scientists have developed a genetically modified (GM)
corn that could help improve the nutritional value of livestock
feed and reduce pollution.
The research was announced by the
Chinese
Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) this week (10
September). The corn has now entered pre-production field
trials.
The GM corn produces seeds containing high levels of an enzyme
called phytase. The enzyme helps livestock to digest phosphorus,
an important nutritional element found in corn and soy feeds.
Many kinds of livestock lack phytase in their stomach so large
amounts of phosphorus are released into the environment through
animal waste.
As a result, farmers add phytase to animal feed to help
livestock digest phosphorus. The enzyme is a product of
fermentation by microorganisms, a process which has high
production costs.
The CAAS scientists — funded by the state — isolated the gene
that produces phytase from a species of the fungus Aspergillus,
and inserted it into corn.
Chen Rumei, of the Institute of Biotechnology under CAAS and a
member of the research team, said that when compared to other
corn varieties, the rate of seed germination, growth speed and
yield of the GM corn were no different.
She told SciDev.Net that, under current industry criteria for
feed additives, adding just a few grams of the GM corn seed per
kilogram of animal feed would be enough to satisfy livestock's
nutritional demand for phosphorus.
"If this technology is commercialised, Chinese farmers can save
up to 450 million yuan (US$60 million) per year in buying
industrial phytase enzyme additives," Chen adds.
Li Zhensheng, former vice-president of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences and the chair of the Ministry of Agriculture team who
evaluated the project, says phosphorus pollution caused by
animal waste has been a serious problem, resulting in widespread
algal blooms in the Chinese lakes (see Pollution control key to
beating China's algal blooms).
"If the phytase enzyme-rich feed produced from the GM corn is
widely applied, phosphorus pollution caused by animal waste will
be significantly reduced, and the ecology could be largely
improved," Li says.
China has not yet approved any GM corn for commercial sale.
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