GM poppies for the apple isle

Genetically modified oilseed poppies will be field-tested in Tasmania after receiving approval last week from both the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) and the Tasmanian State Government's Department of Primary Industries, Water and the Environment (DIPWE).

According to Dr Phil Larkin, who leads the poppy modification program at CSIRO Plant Industry, the approval was announced on Wednesday November 6 and the poppies were planted by Friday.

He said that the Tasmanian Government, whose GMO moratorium requires permission from DIPWE in addition to OGTR approval, was kept informed throughout the application and approval process by both CSIRO and its commercial partner Tasmanian Alkaloids, as well as by the OGTR.

The GM-poppies are being grown under very stringent containment, Larkin said. The 0.64 hectare crop is surrounded by a 10 metre wide pollen trap of non-GM poppies, and further protected by bird-proof netting and an electrified animal-proof fence extending below ground.

In addition, the site is well isolated from other non-GM poppy crops with a minimum distance of 500 metres between them, and due to the timing of the crop, flowering will not occur at the same time as non-GM crops in the vicinity.

Although poppies are primarily self-pollinated, Larkin explained that bees were responsible for a low level of cross-pollination. But the design of the trial site would also further reduce this possibility, he said.

"We had a previous trial where we looked at the flow of pollen into the trap, which showed that no pollen flow occurred beyond one metre," he explained.

The researchers also plan to harvest the seed by hand to further reduce the possibility of poppy volunteers, plants that grow from dropped seed. "We have ambitions that not a single seed is dropped," said Larkin.

Following the trial the site will be closely monitored for three years.

In addition to the containment procedures, none of the plant material or any by-products resulting from the trial will be used for human or animal food or for therapeutic purposes.

In addition, Larkin said that a decision had been made by the researchers to never sell transgenic poppy seed into the food market. If GM poppy crops are eventually approved for commercial production they would be grown purely for pharmaceutical purposes, he said.

The GM poppies have been engineered to enhance the production of alkaloids, including morphine, by up-regulating several key enzymes in the alkaloid biosynthetic pathway. Seven different GM varieties are being tested in this trial.

Larkin said that glasshouse trials had delivered promising results, but real proof of increased production would only be seen in field trials. But he noted that substantial increases in alkaloid production would be necessary to make it worthwhile for CSIRO and Tasmanian Alkaloids to seek commercial approval for GM-poppy crops.

Australia is a world leader in the production of pharmaceutical alkaloids from poppies. In addition to Tasmanian Alkaloids, GlaxoSmithKline also farms poppies in Tasmania, and both companies have previously performed trials of GM poppies, under the supervision of the OGTR's predecessor, the Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee (GMAC).