Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen
Catalysts of GMO Technology
"Given the cost of getting them through regulatory, I think the future is hard to predict unless public opinions change."
~ Dr. Kendall Lamkey, Corn Breeder and ISU Professor
Dr. Kendall Lamkey
ISU Associate Dean of Facilities and Operations
Kendall Lamkey (“Lamkey, Kendall”)
Background
"I am a corn breeder by training and started my career during the advent of GMO technology. I did not directly do research with GMOs per se at the molecular level, we were more interested in the hype surrounding their potential and the implications of the technology on corn breeding and crop production."
Inspiration
"For me it was curiosity and the tremendous amount of hype around the technology (some of which never happened)."
Simplified Version of Recombinant DNA
"Well simply put, recombinant DNA technology in the context of GMOs was discovering genes that might have an impact on traits in plants (corn for me), designing those genes so they would function in the intended plant, inserting the gene into the cells of a plant, using tissue culture to get those cells to become plants and reproduce, and then verifying that it all worked. This is actually a description of the transformation process actually. It was and still is a more difficult process than many think."
Turning Point
"Good question, but I think the ability to get a gene from one species to function in another species was huge, and it demonstrated what we knew and sometimes did not know about genetics. From an evolutionary perspective, this is called horizontal gene flow. Horizontal gene flow certainly occurs on an evolutionary time scale, but these projects demonstrated it could be done on a human time scale."
Immediate Impacts
"In corn the immediate impact was insect resistance - particularly to European corn borer and subsequently to other insects. In corn and soybeans, it was herbicide tolerant crops - particularly to glyphosate and glufosinate. There are other herbicides that crops are tolerant to as well. I have seen little consumer benefit of GMOs in these two crops, but GMOs did affect farmers positively in many cases and the companies, from a financial perspective. There are some other genes used particularly in corn, but they have not been used widely."
Long-Term Impacts and Concerns
"GMOs changed plant breeding for sure, particularly by locking down the ability of farmers to save seed in crops like soybeans. Other impacts include: herbicide-resistant weeds, faster evolution of resistance in insects, off target GMO contamination of organic producers, GMOs have generally had a negative impact on yields (but it was a one time effect), public perception. Our regulatory system and public perception have prevented the use of transgenes in corn and soybeans particularly, and contamination of wild relatives in some crops."
Future Impacts and Applications
"I think the jury is still out. The impacts of transgenes is dependent, in major crops, on whether a company wants to take the financial risk to develop them and find a market. Given the cost of getting them through regulatory, I think the future is hard to predict unless public opinions change. Most are more focused on gene editing now, but there are challenges there as well."