Exploring Biosafety and Biodiversity: Understanding Microbial Life

1. 11 Décembre 2007 Cours régional de biosécurité Salle de Conférences CODIAM Cotonou, Bénin Biosécurité et le principe de précaution Camilo Rodriguez-Beltran

2. Protocole de Carthagène sur la Biosecurité: Mouvement transfrontalier d’OGM Protection of human health and the environment

3. The Cartagena protocol and the Precautionary Approach ….allowing a country to reject the importation or release of an LMO when the science on the potential benefits and hazards to human health and the environment is uncertain….

4. what has biosafety to do with biodiversity? Biosafety: • is recognizing and protecting the species we find ecologically, economically and culturally important. • is operating under the precautionary principle in research.

5. embrace the biodiversity in this room!

6. microbes transferred on contact

7. where the microbes are only between 1-10% of your body life is human cells (by population, not weight) The human body is an ecosystem

8. Species: 1,000,000 estimated 10-99.9% still to be discovered! Census: 100,000/ml of ocean water, ~1023 in the oceans eg 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 compared to 5,500,000,000 humans on Earth 200kg of bacteria/acre top soil, ~1017/acre, ~1012kg of bacteria in the Earth’s soil, ~1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1027) bacteria in soil

9. Weight: each weighs ~0.000,000,000,000,02 g (10-14g) Biomass: bacteria hold 550 x 1015g carbon plants hold 562 x 1015g carbon bacteria hold 130 x 1015g nitrogen plants hold 10 x 1015g nitrogen bacteria hold 14 x 1015g phosphorus plants hold 1 x 1015g phosphorus

10. 4-6 x 1030 microbes in the world, with a turnover every 3 years 5 thousand billion tones (or 5 x 1018 grams) of living matter each microbe may be host to 100 mobile elements, such as viruses

11. Who is listening to the science on GE? government? scientists? the ‘public’?

12. More…. DNA, RNA and protein survive digestion

13. Ingested DNA can enter the bloodstream

14. RNA has been classified as Generally Recognized as Safe in GM Applications!

16. Quoi et où?… “Des fois ça marche…” Incertitude scientifique Avant Après

18. moyenne ~60 variants/gène ADN a OGM

19. L’environnement du gène! Produits des gènes agissent dans des réseaux complexes et interconnectés

21. ADN a OGM

22. in vitro testing

25. Évaluation de l’exposition Sécurité alimentaire Évaluation de l’exposition= concentration de la nouvelle protéine Moyenne de la consommation et moyenne de la concentration comme mesure de risque

26. Notion de familiarité

27. how different could a gmo be? Monsanto High Lysine Corn (FSANZ APPL A549) Modified by one gene 103 statistically significant compositional differences with nearest relative

28. animal trials in vitro testing post-launch monitoring human trials

29. still the best way But only 10 studies

30. How? • Evaluate food safety authority assessment • Data provided by the applicant (Monsanto)

31. Assessing GM applications • What have we found in GM Applications? • Conclusions that do not reflect the result of the studies • Inappropriateness of use of controls • What level of scientific standard is expected from these studies? New scientific approach based in asking questions where it is believed that we have all answers

32. What is the greatest challenge to science? • Ignorance? OR • Capture for… • Political • Commercial • purposes?

33. Innovation creates: • Opportunity and Risk • Harm and Benefit A balanced research portfolio invests equally in innovation and safety both financially and structurally

34. “Questions…”

35. Le labo….