January 2006, EcoNexus and
the Federation of German Scientists
This paper describes in brief the concepts and design behind
Terminator technology or Genetic
Use Restriction Technology (GURTs) in language accessible to non-scientists. It details the
different elements that are theoretically required to assemble gene sequences
designed to prevent the germination of seeds.
Having described in brief the way in which the technology is
intended to work, the paper then discusses the reality of the technology having
to function as part of a biological system, this being the plant, its molecular
components and the broader ecosystem, which is inherently changeable and unpredictable. In becoming part
of the biological system and its evolutionary processes, the mechanism of
GURTs, along with its molecular components, will itself become inherently
changeable and unpredictable.
With reference to GURTs, the paper outlines some of the many
known problems that can occur in biological systems and details some specific
factors that can go wrong with such a complex molecular design and mechanism.
The paper points out that the technology stands in direct
conflict with two key defining characteristics of a living organism - its
ability to reproduce and its ability to adapt. This latter point, combined with
the evolutionary tool of natural selection pressure, raises questions as to
whether GURTs can perform reliably or indeed what the consequences would be,
were it to fail.
Looking at both scenarios, i.e. for the technology to succeed
or to fail, some outcomes can be foreseen, but it must be emphasised that many
are unpredictable. However, the potential impacts on agriculture are serious.
Reduced levels of germination, unpredictable variability in crop performance,
and contamination of crops with GM traits, could ultimately result in food
insecurity. This paper concludes that GURTs cannot be used as a predictable or
reliable technology. Rather it concludes that the technology of inducible seed
sterility is likely to introduce a series of new and, unpredictable problems,
with negative implications for biodiversity, agriculture, food security and
sustainable livelihoods.
2.
Brief description of terminator technology (V-GURTs)
Terminator
technology, technically known as a Genetic Use Restriction Technology (GURTs), is designed to render
seeds sterile at harvest. To this end, plants are genetically engineered with
specially designed sequences of genes, that allow for external control over the
activation of particular traits (e.g. herbicide tolerance, production of
insecticidal compounds, fruit ripening, seed fertility). Such traits can be
switched on or off through the application of inducers, such as particular
chemicals. In the case of terminator technology, the chemical treatment of
seeds prior to their sale to farmers is designed to trigger a genetic process
that will allow the plant to grow and to form seeds, but will cause the embryo
of each of those seeds to produce a cell toxin that will prevent its
germination if replanted after harvest. As this affects the reproduction and
viability of a whole crop variety it is technically referred to as varietal-genetic
use restriction technology (V-GURTs).