Nigeria: The many misconceptions about Genetic modification

Attempts were made recently by some groups to misinform Nigerians about the introduction of genetic engineering into the country to aid agricultural productivity. Despite persistent assurances from the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and the National Biosafety Management Agency (NABMA), the government agencies charged with the responsibilities of promoting and regulating the technology.

Speaking on a live radio programme penultimate week, Prof. Lucy Ogbadu, the director general of NABDA said that the technology which had been in use in the USA for over twenty years was safe and that there have never been any scientific evidence to show otherwise and that the agency was working with Nigerian scientists to ensure that the country was not turned into a dumping ground for GM products. 

She also added that NABMA was established by an act of the National Assembly after series of public hearings and stakeholders meetings that span over ten years to provide the needed regulation and act as a safety gauge for practitioners of the technology. 

Above all, she said NO Nigerian commercialized GM product was available in the market but that Nigerian scientists at research institutes across Nigeria include the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike and the National Cereal Research Institute, Badegi are currently working on GM beans, GM cassava and GM rice. 

The decision to adopt any technology, biotechnology or otherwise, was taken by the Nigerian people and government after careful and scientific cost benefit analysis of such technologies. 

The government and people of Nigeria spend national resources on Nigerian scientists and trust them to provide informed opinion on scientific matters. 

We do not believe that Nigerian scientists have disappointed in this regard. 

One of the lies been peddled about by those against the technology is that already government agencies were conniving with multi- national companies and are producing GM foods in the country.

 This, Prof. Ogbadu had made clear is not possible and not happening as it take nothing less than five years for the certification of research design and approval by various regulatory bodies before a GM product can enter the Nigerian market place. 

Another is linking genetic modification with “Glyphosate” or Roundup, a herbicide in used globally since 1972 to tackle weeds on the farm. 

Most Nigerian farmers even peasant farmers have been using roundup and there have never been any scientific evidence to say that the chemical causes cancer as been widely speculated. 

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) an arm of WHO placed glyphosate on a category 2 scale: “The IARC working group has concluded that there is “LIMITED EVIDENCE” of carcinogenicity in humans. 

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)’s report on glyphosate says “no consistent positive association was observed and the most “POWERFUL” study showed no effect” the report went ahead to conclude that there are very limited evidence for an association between glyphosate based formulations and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), overall inconclusive for a causal or clear associative relationship between glyphosate and cancer in human studies. 

In any case, when did glyphosate become biotechnology? Is glyphosate (roundup) not the commonest herbicide in Nigeria? There is also the allegation that Cassava Bread is made from GM cassava. 

There is no GM cassava yet in Nigeria except for the research going on at Umudike. The research is yet to be commericalised hence no such thing as GM cassava bread. 

Traditionally, a plant breeder tries to exchange genes between two plants to produce offspring that have desired traits. 

This is done by transferring the male (pollen) of one plant to the female organ of another. This cross breeding, however, is limited to exchanges between the same or very closely related species. It can also take a long time to achieve desired results and frequently, characteristics of interest do not exist in any related species. 

According to ISAAA, the GM technology enables plant breeders to bring together in one plant useful genes from a wide range of living sources, not just from within the crop species or from closely related plants. 

This powerful tool allows plant breeders to do faster what they have been doing for years – generate superior plant varieties – although it expands the possibilities beyond the limits imposed by conventional plant breeding. 

Whatever technique is used (either traditional or GM), the genome of the new variety is different from the parents, but convention dictates that this is not considered to be genetic modification, the term being reserved for the products of r-DNA technology. 

GM technology aims to produce new varieties by adding (or modifying the expression of) specific genes known to control particular traits. 

GM is more targeted (only a few genes carrying known functions are inserted in the recipient genome) and more rapid (bypassing the multiple cross generations needed by traditional breeding). 

It also allows plants to be used to produce molecules which could not be obtained otherwise, such as vaccines or bio-plastics. Where conventional techniques are effective, they will be used, but genetic modification allows a wider range of useful traits to be incorporated into a given crop. 

“Conventional breeding” usually refers to cross-breeding/hybridization (i.e. plant sex). 

Hybridization is, and always will be, the predominant form of generating variation for plant breeding, including GMOs. GM techniques and conventional techniques are not mutually exclusive. 

In fact, GM techniques require conventional breeding to be of any practical success. 

As we continue to educate Nigerians on the technology, it is important to recall what former Senate President, Senator David Mark said during the Senate public hearing on the National Biosafety bill in 2014: 

“A lot of debate on the acceptance of biotechnology products had been going on for a while; however, as global population is growing at a geometric rate, it has become necessary for humans to invent new methods of survival. Biotechnology is one of such techniques. The benefits of biotechnology include increased agricultural productivity, job and wealth creation, stabilized economy, revenue generation, improved health and other factors necessary for human survival”. 

The media have the huge responsibility to present balanced information, on the benefits and risks of alternative technologies and to do this independently of commercial interests.

Source: Vanguardng.