The development of crops with value-added, specialty traits has
long been a goal of the biotechnology industry, which might now
have a serious challenger with technology offered by Brimrose
Corp. of America. The company has broughtto market a machine
named 'Seed Meister,' which uses Acoustic Optic Tunable Filter
Near Infrared (AOTF-NIR) technology and chemometrics to sort up
to 45 individual seeds per minute according to their oil,
protein, starch, sugar, moisture and oleic acid content--all
qualities of prime nutritional interest. So far, it has been
shown to work on major crops such as maize, soybeans, peanuts
and coffee.
The availability of this information on a seed-by-seed basis
allows plant breeders to sort early generation seeds for maximum
predetermined quality, such as high oil. With this
nondestructive selection process only those seeds with desired
qualities are chosen for future growing trials.
Researchers in various laboratories have targeted crops such as
canola, castor bean, flax and hemp for genetic modifications
which could lead to new non-food products like
environmentally-friendly lubricants and coatings. "I believe it
won't be long before we start some feasibility studies along
those lines," said John Hill, who works in applications and
engineering at Brimrose.
At least with respect to nutritional and processing traits, the
system appears to be superior to genetic engineering in a number
of important respects: speed, cost and marketability of the end
product.
With conventional breeding, it typically takes ten to fifteen
years to develop a new seed product. The same has been true of
genetically engineered crops, although there are indications
that this has been reduced by half for some products in the
pipeline.
With the seed-sorting capabilities of the AOTF-NIR technology,
the company says some seed breeders anticipate reducing new
product development to as little as three years. And, since the
system relies on conventional breeding, there will be no anti-GM
export barriers to crops grown with the seed.
Another significant advantage is cost. It takes roughly $30
million to develop a genetically engineered crop, and meeting
legal requirements for food and environmental safety can add
another 25 percent to that figure. Crops conventionally bred
through AOTF-NIR seed-sorting need only the machine and the
costs normally associated with a breeding facility, and will not
need to leap the hurdles imposed between a new GM product and
its market.
The current version of the Seed Meister has been on the market
for about four years, and Brimrose anticipates further
improvements in the future. One possibility, which lies nearly
at the current limit of detection, would add the capability of
sorting not merely for protein content, but also for a specific
protein, such as tryptophan. The same could eventually be
developed for specific sugars and other components of seed.
The success of this technology, which appears to have a bright
future, could subtly alter the structure of the seed industry.
With the advent of biotechnology and the creation of vast patent
estates of newly-discovered genes, many smaller seed companies
saw the market drift in the direction of the biotech companies,
a select few who could offer pest resistance and herbicide
tolerance traits in their products. New product development
seemed to be entirely the province of genetic engineering.
However, there is quite a bit of germplasm available to
breeders, with various traits, and seed companies not able to
afford $30 million for a new product might now be able to bring
highly competitive products to market for a considerably smaller
investment. At the same time, it could give the seed industry
and farmers the output traits and premiums that many have sought
for years.
For more information, contact John Hill, phone (410) 931-7200,
fax (410) 931-7206, email jhill@brimrose.com or visit
www.brimrose.com <http://www.brimrose.com/>.
