Terminator Technology or: how to create a problem

Sandra Blessin BUKO Agrar Koordination Berlin, 22.5.2007

Overview
Introduction What is Terminator Technology?
Definition How does it work Impacts and risks Short history

The ban-terminator activities in Germany 2005/ 2006 The transcontainer project, COP9 and possible activities

definition
Problems:
no official definition in the CBD text Different components and aims

German campaign definition:

Terminator Technology is a genetic modification of organisms which eliminates or reduces the germination capacity of the following seed generation. Usually the terminator gene sequence can be activated through a on or off mechanism.

definition
Our definition includes 4 components:
GMO Germination reduces or eliminated Sterile seeds inducible

CBD: genetic use restriction technologies (GURTs) FAO: Biotechnology-based switch mechanism to restrict the unauthorized use of genetic material

how does it work?

The Terminator Technology is basically a genetically engineered suicide mechanism that can be triggered on or off by aspecific outside stimulus (the inducer). The preferred inducer is Tetracycline (antibiotic). As the result the seeds of the next generation will self destruct by selfpoisoning. Usually there are 3 genes inserted. All can fail. The reliabilty of the hole construct is 80 % (estimated by R. Steinbrecher)

How Terminator works in theory (Overview

apply inducer
from Dr. R. Steinbrecher)
for example Tetracycline, heat etc.

molecular

Scissors

elimination of repressor

molecular

Scissors

production from Ribonuclease

toxin

Promoter

toxin

impacts and risks

Reliability for biosafety: enough for use restriction but as an affective measure to avoid GMO contamination not enough Use restriction:
negation of farmersrights undermining of food sovereignty danger for food security biodiversity loss

short history
1998/1999 international protest against a Terminator patent from Delta and Pine De facto moratorium on the COP5 of CBD: recommendation that ..products incorporating such technology should not be approved by parties for field testing until appropiate scientific data can justify such testing Canadian Government tries to weaken the moratorium by stressing biosafety function of Terminator Technology. They try to get a case by case assessment Granada: ad-hoc working group on Art. 8j CBD accept a recommendation paper for Curitiba with case by case assessment

2000

2005

January 2006

March 2006 Curitiba: A lot of protest (over all the international Ban Terminator campaign) Result: The moratorium remains without limitation.

german ban-terminator activities

www.freie-saat.de (in german) Initiated in october 2005 by the BUKO Agrar Koordination Activities: position paper with 35 signing organizations Press conference Public work: Articles in german newspaper, TV Participation in Granada demonstration Handover from 2359 signatures to the German Parliament Action in front of Canadian Embassy Lettres to EU members of parliament Meeting with the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL), institution for GMO authorization because of Transcontainer-project

signing organizations (1)

Kein Patent auf Leben!
Aktion 3. Welt Saar Arbeitsgemeinschaft buerliche Landwirtschaft (AbL.) Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Umweltbeauftragten in der Ev. Kirche in Deutschland (AGU) ATTAC Ausschuss fr den Dienst auf dem Lande in der EKD Bioland Bonner AK gegen Gentechnologie Brot fr die Welt BUKO Agrar Koordination BUKO-Kampagne gegen Biopiraterie Bund fr Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) Bund kologischer Lebensmittelwirtschaft (BLW) Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Evangelische Jugend im lndlichen Raum (BAG ejl)

signing organizations (2)

Bndnis fr die gentechnikfreie Landwirtschaft in Niedersachsen, Bremen und Hamburg Brgerinitiative gentechnikfreies Schleswig-Holstein Coordination gegen Bayer-Gefahren Demeter Dreschflegel e.V. Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED) Evangelisches Bildungszentrum Hesselberg Gen-ethisches Netzwerk Gentechnikfreie Regionen in Deutschland Germanwatch NABU Naturland kologischer rztebund komarkt PAN Germany (Pestizid Aktionsnetzwerk) Share e.V. Umweltinstitut Mnchen Verein zur Erhaltung der Nutzpflanzenvielfalt (VEN) Zukunftsstiftung Landwirtschaft

Handover from 2359 signatures to the German Parliament

press action in front of the Parliament

Other ban-terminator campaigns

Ban terminator campaign: www.banterminator.org Spain : Ecologistas en Accion United Kingdom Canada Australia

Result of all campaigns

The CBD moratorium remained in the COP8 CBD in Curitiba Two problems: Not legally binding Call for new scientific research on Terminator Technology in decision V/5 Nr. 23 and 25.

transcontainer- project

a EU-wide official project executed by 8 European Member States Over all: scientific institutions and universities and two private companies: SweTree Technologies AB in Sweden (researching with trees) and the DLF-Trifolium A/S in Denmark Destination crops: Canola, sugar beet, trees, aubergine and tomato Aim: To enhance the acceptance of GMO. Glasshouse-testing in Sweden an Denmark Transcontainer-workshop 2008 in Eastern Europe

Projectpartner
Plant Research International B.V., Wageningen, The Netherlands (coordinator) Drs. Kim Boutilier and Ruud de Maagd 1. 2. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Ume, Sweden Prof. Ove Nilsson Research Institute for Vegetable Crops, Montanaso Lombardo, Italy Dr. Giuseppe Rotino 3. Vienna University, Campus Vienna Biocenter, Austria Prof. Alisher Touraev 4. 5. University of Milan, Italy Prof. Martin Kater

National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland Prof. Philip J. Dix 6. Wageningen University, Netherlands Dr. Justus Wesseler

7. 8.

Institute of Plant Genetics-Research (CNR-IGV), Perugia, Italy Dr. Sergio Arcioni

Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, Berlin, Germany Dr. Detlef Bartsch 9. 10. University of Plovdiv Paisii Hilendarski, Plovdiv, Bulgaria Prof. Ivan Minkov Schenkelaars Biotechnology Consultancy, Leiden, The Netherlands Ir. Piet Schenkelaars 11. 12. SweTree Technologies AB, Ume, Sweden Dr. Magnus Hertzberg DLF-TRIFOLIUM A/S, Store Heddinge, Denmark Dr. Christian Sig Jensen

Fertility confinement of transcontainer

Plant Research International B.V., Wageningen, Netherlands; Dr. Kim Boutilier Vienna University, Campus Vienna Biocenter, Austria; Prof. Alisher Touraev University of Milan, Italy; Prof. Martin Kater Research Institute for Vegetable Crops, Montanaso Lombardo, Italy; Dr. Giuseppe Rotino

Controllable Fertility Objectives

To realise a male sterility-based transgene containment system based on amino acid depletion and complementation in oilseed rape and tomato To realise a male sterility-based transgene containment system based on TAF loss of function and complementation in oilseed rape To develop and validate a transgenic containment technique based on the coupling of parthenocarpy to male sterility in tomato (amino acid depletion) and eggplant (TAF loss-of-function) To evaluate the potential of restorable male sterility strategies as a tool for F1 hybrid breeding in oilseed rape and tomato To implement the two-component ablation system in grasses in preparation for a male sterility-based hybrid system in European forage crops To develop a seed lethal transgene containment system based on Recoverable Block of Function (RBF) in oilseed rape.

COP 9 and possible activities

Until now nothing on the Agenda; but new attack from Canada and Australia probable Possible activities:
Take care on the Moratorium Maybe influence on the Moratorium excluding the call for scientific research Watch carefully the transcontainerproject; side-event on COP 9 ...