Monsanto Modifies Corn Genes to Resist Insects

Building on a Nobel Prize winning discovery, Monsanto has announced that it is using RNAi, or RNA interference, as a tool to modify corn to fight off insect infestation. Monsanto, a US-based agricultural supplier, has been working with Devgen, a biotechnology firm from the Netherlands, and the joint effort has just published its findings in Nature Biotechnology.

The new technology may prove useful in protecting corn from low yields, which is becoming more and more important as corn not only feeds the world's cattle industry and human population, but also the ethanol industry. Ethanol is corn-based fuel that is mixed into gasoline, and due to its increasing popularity, the cost of corn is going up. Ensuring that corn yields stay strong is important as ethanol is being embraced as a new bio-fuel to wean people off of fossil fuels.

RNAi splices RNA double-strands into shorter segments. The strands can then be combined with other segments of genes that can provide given results. Previous research into RNAi techniques and corn has shown that concentrations of the amino acid, lysine, can be increased by suppressing a gene sequence that inhibits lysine in corn kernels.

Two scientists, Andrew Fire of Stanford University and Craig Mello of the University of Massachusetts, won the 2006 Nobel Prize for their work in RNA interference. Their research showed that RNAi occurs in nature. Other scientists, such as those from Monsanto and Devgen, are looking at RNAi as a safer, more natural way to modify plants in order to make them pest-resistant.

The Monsanto chief technology officer, Robert T. Fraley, offered this statement in the Monsanto press release, "RNA interference is an incredibly promising method for crop improvement overall. Because of its specificity, this exciting technology can help us in areas of plant science that until now have simply not been possible."

Monsanto has a long history with genetically modified organisms or GMOs. Monsanto scientists were the first to genetically modify a plant in 1982. The company has since worked with soybeans and cotton, as well as corn, through its own work and the work of smaller companies the agriculture giant has acquired over the years.

Devgen has been in the biotechnology business since 1997, and works in crop technologies and protection, as well as pharmaceuticals for human use. Devgen entered into partnership with Monsanto, receiving funding from Monsanto, and then licensing the resulting technologies back to Monsanto. The two companies are also working on other food grains such as rice.

Sources: Monsanto, Devgen, CheckBiotech.org, ethanol.org