ILSI IFBiC Workshop
Safety of GM crops: compositional analysis, Washington, DC, USA, 13–15 September 2012
The ILSI International Food Biotechnology Committee (IFBiC) hosted a workshop on September 13-15, 2012, in Washington, DC, to identify and address topics related to plant composition from a scientific perspective. The workshop brought together experts in plant breeding and crop composition from all over the world.
Fifteen invited speakers participated in four thematic sessions: conventional development of new crop varieties, development of crops using modern biotechnology, compositional analysis methods, and interpretation of composition data. In addition to these formal presentations, round table discussions were held involving all conference attendees to address four related topics: effects of transgenic versus conventional crop improvement methods on germplasm development, effect of natural variability in crop composition on data interpretation and safety evaluations, selection of comparators for compositional analysis as part of safety assessments, and design of compositional analyses/adequacy of existing OECD consensus guidelines.
Workshop Proceedings
The following documents are available for download in PDF format.
The fifteen invited speakers will each contribute a manuscript to be submitted for publication in a special issue of theJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (JAFC). The keynote speakers will write an additional manuscript following the conference to summarize the discussions and highlight key points made by individual speakers. ILSI intends to purchase the copyrights for the JAFC special issue, so that all members of the scientific community will have open access to the sixteen papers produced by the conference speakers.
Workshop Presentations
Video is available for the following workshop presentations.
Opening Presentation
Keynote Presentation and Discussion: The Genetics and Consequences of Crop Domestication. Sherry Flint-Garcia, USDA ARS, USA
Session 1: Conventional Development of New Crop Varieties
Presentation 1.1: Traditional and Modern Plant Breeding Methods with Discussion of Cases on Rice. Flavio Breseghello, Embrapa, Brazil
Presentation 1.2: Genomic Variation in Plants Recovered Through Plant Cell and Tissue Culture. John Finer, The Ohio State University, USA
Presentation 1.3: Mineral Biofortification Strategies for Major Staples: the Example of Common Bean. Matthew Blair, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia and Cornell University, USA
Presentation 1.4: Natural Variability in Wheat Grain Composition. Peter Shewry, Rothamsted Research, UK
Session 1: Panel Question and Answer
Session 2: Development of Crops Using Modern Biotechnology
Presentation 2.1: A Look at Product Development with Genetically Modified Crops: Examples from Maize. Rita Mumm, University of Illinois, USA
Presentation 2.2: Bringing a Transgenic Crop to Market – Where Compositional Analysis Fits. Laura Privalle, BASF Plant Science, USA
Presentation 2.3: Availability and Utility of Crop Composition Data. Kazumi Kitta, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Japan
Session 2: Panel Question and Answer
Session 3: Compositional Analysis Methods
Presentation 3.1: OECD Composition Consensus Documents. Kathleen Jones, US FDA, USA
Presentation 3.2: How Composition Methods are Developed and Validated. Hilary Rogers, Eurofins Scientific, USA
Presentation 3.3: Evaluation of Endogenous Allergens for the Safety Evaluation of Genetically Engineered Food Crops: A Review of Methods and Relevance. Richard Goodman, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
Session 3: Panel Question and Answer
Session 4: Interpretation of Composition Data
Presentation 4.1: Food Safety: Importance of Composition. Wilna Jansen van Rijssen, personal capacity (retired from the South African Department of Health), South Africa
Presentation 4.2: Biological Importance and Statistical Significance. David Lovell, University of London, UK [Note: Video not available]
Presentation 4.3: Regulatory Perspectives on How Composition Data are Interpreted — Food. Lynne Underhill, Health Canada, Canada
Presentation 4.4: Regulatory Perspectives on How Composition Data are Interpreted — Feed. Bill Price, US FDA (Retired), USA
Session 4: Panel Question and Answer [Note: Video not available]
Final Wrap-Up
Final Wrap-Up with Review of Reports from All Round Table Discussions and Next Steps. Co-chair: ILSI IFBiC Crop Composition Issues Task Force, Angela Hendrickson Culler, Monsanto Company, USA