GMO CROPS: STATUS IN

PAKISTAN

Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

 Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB)

Presenter ： Dr. Zaib-un-Nisa

Assistant Professor
Ph.D. (Botany)

Plant Bioengineering Laboratory of NEAU, North East Agricultural

University, Heilongjiang, Harbin, china

Specialization: Plant Functional Genomics, Plant Molecular

Biology
 What are GM crops
The term genetically modified (GM), as it is
commonly used, refers to the transfer of genes
between organisms using a series of laboratory
techniques such as
1.Cloning of genes
2.Splicing DNA segments together
3.Inserting genes into cells
Collectively, these techniques are known as
recombinant DNA technology
 History of GM crops

• The first genetically modified crop plant was produced in

1982, an antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant.
• The first genetically modified crop approved for sale in
the U.S., in 1994, was the FlavrSavr tomato.
• In 1995, Bt Potato was approved by the US
Environmental Protection Agency, making it the country's
first pesticide producing crop.
• In 2000, Vitamin A-enriched golden rice was developed.
 Overview of process

It involves the insertion of DNA from one organism into another OR modification of an
organism’s DNA in order to achieve a desired trait
Overview of process
Creation of insect resistance in plants
 Traits of Current and Future GM Crops
• Insect Resistance (Plant Incorporated Protectants)
– ex: BT corn & cotton
• Herbicide Tolerance – ex: Glyphosate Resistant
Corn & Soybeans (i.e. Roundup Ready)
• Value Added” Crops – ex: Golden Rice containing
vitamin A
• Stress Tolerance – ex: drought, salt resistant
varieties
• Biopharming” – Production of drugs, chemicals
on agricultural scales
 International GM Market

Few multinational biotech companies holding the GM

market
1.Monsanto
2.Novartis
3.Syngenta
4.Dupont
5.Bayer
 •Few multinational biotech companies holding
International GMO Producers
the GM market (Monsanto, Novartis, Syngenta,
Dupont, Bayer)
Main GMO producers:

1.USA (Soybean, Maize, Cotton, Canola, Squash, Alfalfa, Sugarbeet)

2.Argentina (Soybean, Maize, Cotton)

3.Canada (Maize, Soybean, Canola, Sugarbeet)

4.Brazil (Soybean, Maize, Cotton)

World GMO Market

Names of some genetically modified crops
 Issues/Challenges for Major Crops in Pakistan

Salinity and Sodicity

0.04 million hectares of Pakistan’s fertile lands are getting saline every year
because of blatant floods, imbalance rainfall.
 So far, an area of 5.33 million hectares
up to 50% reduction in crops yields with an ultimate loss of $475million per
annum.
Table: 1 Yield loss in crops due to salt stress
 Issues/Challenges for Major Crops in Pakistan

Drought and Heat Stress

Pakistan’s cultivated area of 15.0 million hectares has been abandoned due to
drought conditions.
 Rice is the most susceptible crop to drought and heat stresses which cause a yield
loss of up to 92% and 50%, respectively. Similarly, a loss of 57% and 31% of yield has
been noted in wheat due to drought and heat, respectively
Table: 2 Yield loss in crops due to drought
and heat stress
 Issues/Challenges for Major Crops in Pakistan

Irrigation and Waterlogging

An area of 1.55 million hectares has been affected by waterlogging so far, and it
has been reported that 0.1 million hectares are still being affected by it every year
which greatly affects the crop yield and GDP accumulating to a loss of $300 million
annually
Sugarcane is the crop most sensitive to the water- logging as up to 58% reduction
in its yield was observed at the water table depth of 0–1.0 m
Table: 3 Yield loss in crops by water logging
 Issues/Challenges for Major Crops in Pakistan

Weeds Infestation
Weeds are one of the major challenging issues encountered in Pakistani
agriculture.
The crop under weed stress grows in a competitive environment which ultimately
leads to the yield loss of up to 40%.
A loss of up to 998 million USD occurs every year due to the need to purchase of
herbicides and due to the yield losses
Insect Attack
Insect attack is the most crucial biotic stress to the plants in Pakistan and 25–75%
of annual yield loss has been reported due to this issue.

35–40% of the total yield of wheat is lost due to aphid attack and up to 50% loss in
maize yield is reported due to pest attack
 Need for GMOs and Genes for Pakistan

 In 1985, modern biotechnology was first implemented in

Pakistan
 Now 56 (50 in public sector and 6 in private sector) high-
tech research institutes of biotechnology have been
founded.
 Working on the development of potential genetically
modified (GM) crops with the properties that would help
them fight against both biotic and abiotic environmental
stresses
 Pakistan started investing heavily in scientific research by
means of establishment of the Higher Education
Commission (HEC) in 2002.
 Status of GMOs in Pakistan
 Cotton and maize are the two major GM crops in Pakistan
that are developed with resistance properties against
insects and weeds.
 In 2002, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton was developed
for first the time as a genetically modified crop in Pakistan.
The regions in which Bt cotton was grown included
Bahawalpur, Multan, Muzaffer Garh and Karor Pakka
 In 2005, Pakistan atomic energy commission (PAEC)
commercialized four varieties of Bt-cotton exhibiting
insect-resistance (IR) i.e. IR- CIM-443, IR-CIM-448, IR-
NIBGE-2, and IR-FH -901 across the Pakistan to sort out
the issue of insect attack which was getting epidemic.
 Status of GMOs in Pakistan
 In 2011–2012, Punjab Seeds Council (PSC) has approved a
commercial release of up to 40 different IR Bt-cotton
varieties
 Between 2013 and 2016, 50 more Bt- cotton varieties
were approved by the National Biosafety Committee
(NBC), PSC, and the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee
(PCCC) for commercialization.
 At present, 96% of the total cotton production in Pakistan
is Bt cotton which is planted on a total area of 3 million
hectares
 Bt cotton has been loaded with insect-killing genes taken
from a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis (hence “Bt”).
 This species lives in soil and the surface of plants, and it
produces crystals of proteins that are toxic to hungry
insects.
 If they are swallowed, they stick to molecules in the
pest’s gut, breaking down its lining and allowing both
B.thuringiensis spores and colonies of normal gut bacteria to
invade.
 Besides the insect attack, maize crop in Pakistan
also grows at the verge of weed stress.
 Introducing and commercializing various
GM/Biotech herbicide tolerant (HT) and insect
resistant (IR) varieties of maize, including some
hybrids harboring both traits (HT+IR).
 These biotech varieties were approved by PSC
and NBC in 2016 and their cultivation started in
early 2017 in Punjab and KPK province.
 Initial results show a remarkable increase in yield,
the net profit of $1 billion (USD) to the farmers has
been estimated in the upcoming decade.
 Genetic Transformation Scenario in Pakistan
Several transformation approaches have been developed in crops like
wheat, cotton, and Brassica under local conditions for the delivery of
desired genes into the target plant genomes.
Floral-dip method
Floral spray
Biolistic
Electroporation
Vacuum infiltration
PEG-mediated
Agrobacterium- mediated transformation
CRISPR/Cas system
 Genetic Transformation Scenario in Pakistan
Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is the most
common, simple, and effective strategy used from the list of
all strategies applied in both monocots and dicots
 Genetic Transformation Scenario in Pakistan
 CRISPR is the most rapidly emerging and successful
applied transformation technology at the moment in
Pakistan.
 CRISPR/Cas9 plays dual role in activation and silencing of a
specific gene
 This technology could be helpful in functional genomics,
genetics, epigenetics, and molecular biology.
 Approved GM Events in Pakistan
 According to the GM Approval Database of ISAAA
(2018), Pakistan exhibit only 6 GM events that are
approved for cultivation and commercialization.
 Two of them are reported in cotton for insect resistance
while other four in maize for herbicide tolerance or
hybrids having insect resistance approved between 2010
and 2017.
 The genes involved in these events are Cry1Ac, Cry1Ab-
Ac, Cry1Fa2, and CP4 Epsps that were taken from
bacterial sources.
 Funding of Transformation Project by Major Agencies
in Recent Years

 HEC

 Punjab Agriculture Research Board (PARB)

 Agricultural Linkages Program (ALP) controlled

by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council
(PARC),
 Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF)
Funding of Transformation Project by Major Agencies
in Recent Years
Funding of Transformation Project by Major Agencies
in Recent Years
 Funding of Transformation Project by Major Agencies
in Recent Years
 In Global trend, Cotton, maize, and soybean are three
major crops and herbicide tolerance, insect tolerance,
and quality characters are three major traits incorporated
in these crops.
Table 9 shows that
 PSF has funded 9 projects and all of them on different
crop plants;
 PARB has funded 10 projects on 7 different crop plants
 while ALP has funded 8 projects on 5 different crops;
 Woody and fruit trees are altogether absent from this
list
 Environmental and Health Concerns
• Non-target effects
– Species, Communities, Ecosystems
Beneficial species, threatened / endangered species
• Gene flow / Transgene Escape
– Crop to Crop, Crop to Wild Relative, Crop to distant
relative
Insect resistance genes, herbicide tolerance genes
Future – vaccines, chemicals, drugs, etc.
• Insect Resistance
• Allergenicity
 Agricultural Pesticides:
Intended and unintended effects

Human Health
Targeted Effects
Unintended Insect
Environmental
Impact Pest
 GM Rice
• Recently a Pakistani scientist, Dr. Fida Abbasi has
developed a new rice strains which is able to
increase the rice production of the country.
• By applying this technology the number of grains
per panicle of rice plant had been increased from
250 to 700.
• According to him, the production had been
increased from 5 tons per hectare to 15 tons per
hectare, while new strains of rice was 6 feet tall
with a thick stem, large and heavy panicle of 50
centimeters and would bear 700 grains.