Technology


GM apple project’s fate rests with regulators


Despite extensive research and development, Okanagan Specialty Fruits still facing opposition to its non-browning technology. By Susan McIver


O


pinion continues to be divided over technology whose proponents say could revitalize the apple industry. Critics contend it could place the industry


in jeopardy.


Neal Carter, president of Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OFS) in Summerland, is the driving force behind efforts to obtain regulatory approval in both Canada and the United States for the genetically modified non-browning apples Arctic Golden and Arctic Granny. Carter would like the approval and eventual release of the apples to occur at about the same time in both countries. However, the approval processes are moving faster in the U.S. and the overall climate is more favourable than in Canada. Carter says OSF is among the first companies to undergo the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recently expanded APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) review process, which now includes more public comment opportunities.


“Once Arctic apple’s deregulation status is determined, perhaps as early as 2013, trees will be available for commercial sale to growers.”


He further explained that Arctic apple licensed growers will have the opportunity to conduct their own tests to develop Arctic-specific field and packing best practices before taking the fruit to market, as they would with any new variety.


The applications for regulatory approval are based on more than a decade of research and development, including extensive field trials. These include agronomic performance and pest and disease characteristics. Environmental consequences of introduction of the transformed apples, such as gene flow, are also considered. “Our field trials demonstrate that Arctic trees behave in the orchards just as their conventional counterparts do, and the fruit is compositionally and nutritionally similar,” Carter said. “We’re now trying to go from our two field trials in New York and Washington State and get 20 test blocks with commercial growers, 10 in Canada and 10 in the U.S.” This year, an eight-acre plot is being planted in a family orchard in Washington. Tests on the apples will include running them through their own packing line. In the near future Carter hopes to produce enough fruit to do test marketing.


OSF has 44 shareholders, of whom more than half are 8


Neal Carter, president of Okanagan Specialty Fruits, has had to contend with challenges on several fronts in his efforts to win regulatory, industry and consumer support for genetically modified Arctic apples.


agricultural industry people, including growers. Ninety five percent either live in B.C. or have ties with this province. The company’s international partners include government agencies, various high-tech and pivotal food companies, universities and departments of agriculture in the U.S., Australia, Switzerland and New Zealand.


The genetic modification technique used to produce the non-browning apple gene has been described as “GM light” because the technology silences a gene that produces the enzyme polyphenol oxidase, which is responsible for browning. The technology works by reversing a small section of the genetic code (an 800 base pair sequence of the 700 million base pairs that make up the apple genome) so that two copies of that portion of the code interfere with each other.


Data from third-party laboratories found that antioxidants British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2012


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