Abstract : |
Genetically-modified (GM) crops have been developed to increase productivity from current agricultural practices. Their current safety assessment includes in-depth studies of phenotypic, agronomic, morphological, and compositional profiles to identify potential harmful effects. Advances in open-ended molecular profiling technologies (i.e. Omics) raises the question of whether these methods should be used for the safety assessment. One of many challenges to the use of Omics technologies for this purpose is the rational determination of biologically meaningful differences in the GM crops in relation to control samples. To this end, the extent of the inherent natural variation in non-GM crops must first be known to ascertain if changes detected by an analytical technology are due to the introduced transgene or are the result of changes due to genetic and environmental variability. In this report we have evaluated metabolite and RNA profiling technologies to begin to understand the natural variation in these biomolecules found in commercial-quality, conventional (non-GM) maize hybrids. Our analyses focus on mature grain, the article of commerce that is most typically subjected to the rigorous studies involved in the comparative safety assessment of GM products. We have used a population of conventionally-bred maize hybrids that derive from closely related inbred parents grown under standard field conditions across geographically similar locations. This study highlights the large amount of natural variation in metabolites and transcripts across conventional maize germplasm grown under normal field conditions, and underscores the critical need for further extensive studies before these technologies can be seriously considered for utility in the comparative safety assessment of GM crops. |
Biography : |
Dr. Xiaofeng Sean Yang obtained his B.S. and M.S. in biology from Nankai University, China. He received his Ph.D. in plant genetics and post-doctoral training in molecular microbiology from University of California at Davis, USA. Dr. Yang joined Monsanto Company (USA) in 2006 as a Senior Scientist, and since then has conducted a broad range of research and technology development activities in biotechnology, breeding, regulatory, functional genomics, and systems biology, including leading gene and biomarker discovery and development projects for crop biotechnology and breeding applications. During1999-2006, Dr. Yang worked in Pioneer, DuPont as a Computational Biology Manger leading teams of biologists and software engineers to provide scientific and informatics solutions to research and product development. During his 15 years of experience in agricultural industry, Dr. Yang published many research papers and patents in areas of genomics technology, plant physiology, genetics, crop protection, and food safety assessment. During 1996-1999, Dr. Yang also worked as a Research Scientist in Microcide Pharmaceuticals (USA) where he developed a novel pharmaco-genomic strategy for antibiotics drug discovery. |