Omics-Technologies for Sustainable Production of Better Food for Better Nutrition
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For Official Use DSTI/STP/BNCT(2015)4 Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Économiques Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 12-May-2015 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________ English - Or. English DIRECTORATE FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION COMMITTEE FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL POLICY For Official Use Official For DSTI/STP/BNCT(2015)4 Working Party on Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Converging Technologies OMICS-TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION OF BETTER FOOD FOR BETTER NUTRITION Results of a survey 18-19 May 2015 OECD Headquarters, Paris, France The project started under Programme of Work and Budget (PWB) 2013-2014, Output Result 3.2 on Science, technology and innovation (STI) and green growth: Industrial and environmental biotechnology for sustainable growth. A survey was conducted as one input to that output result. This paper discusses the findings of that survey and will inform PWB 2015-2016. Delegates to the Working Party on Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Converging technologies are invited to: - Discuss this draft survey report on the “Omics technologies for sustainable production of better food for better nutrition”; and - Provide comments in writing by 15 June 2015. For further information, please contact: Kathleen D'Hondt; Email: [email protected] English JT03376073 Complete document available on OLIS in its original format - This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of Or. English international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. DSTI/STP/BNCT(2015)4 TABLE OF CONTENTS OMICS-TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION OF BETTER FOOD ............................ FOR BETTER NUTRITION .......................................................................................................................... 3 The role of ‘omics’-technologies in food and nutrition ............................................................................... 3 Survey results ............................................................................................................................................... 6 Technological trends and industrial applications of omics technologies for better food and nutrition .... 6 Policies and programmes devoted to mics technologies for better food and nutrition ............................. 9 Enabling framework for sustainable production through omics technologies .......................................... for better food and nutrition ................................................................................................................... 14 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................ 15 ANNEX 1 ...................................................................................................................................................... 16 Boxes Box 1. GRDI's priorities of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada ............................................................... 11 Box 2. Genome Canada Programming ...................................................................................................... 13 Tables Table 1 Enabling framework for sustainable production through omics technologies for ....................... better food and nutrition ........................................................................................................... 15 2 DSTI/STP/BNCT(2015)4 OMICS-TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION OF BETTER FOOD FOR BETTER NUTRITION The role of ‘omics’-technologies in food and nutrition 1. Population growth, climate change, resource depletion, human health and nutrition, and sustainability are all issues with which the world is grappling, issues that are placing a growing strain on available resources. Producing more high quality and safe food on less land with less environmental impact will be one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century. Advances enabled by ‘omics’- technologies1 are supporting production through agriculture, animal husbandry and aquaculture in being better positioned to master these challenges. 2. Omics-technologies are powerful tools, particularly in combination with advanced molecular and breeding techniques. By increasing consistency and predictability, genomics in particular, has the potential to make conventional breeding and advanced breeding techniques more efficient and precisely targeted. Indeed, genomics and other omics-technologies such as epigenomics and proteomics provide information that is fundamental to understanding genes and their function. Opportunities offered by the application of omics-technologies for food production include: Understanding defence mechanisms and disease pathways in crops, livestock, poultry and marine organisms to make them better able to deal with the presence of current and emerging pests and diseases; Improving the detection of invasive pathogens, insects, weeds and toxins through the development and use of molecular tools; Preventing disease, improving the efficiency of feed utilisation and reducing wastes (including manure and greenhouse gases) through the better understanding of, for example, the interaction between the gastrointestinal microbiome and livestock host; Optimising yield (without compromising nutritional attributes) through measures to increase the resistance to disease, insect pests, drought, flooding and temperature extremes and other challenges posed by climate change; Extending the shelf life and eating quality of foods, thereby potentially reducing food waste; Optimising crop values and traits in livestock, poultry or marine organisms (fish, shellfish, algae…) by using the technology to identify the origins of certain traits and breeding for those 1 Omics-technologies regroup the technologies supporting the study of groups of biological molecules, in particular the genome, but also the proteome, the transcriptome, the lipidome and the metabolome and interactions between molecules such as interactomics, epigenomics and may include also microbiomics in which the whole (symbiotic) microbial environment is studied. ‘Omics’ also refers to the integrative collective technologies used in a systems approach to explore the roles, relationships, and actions of these various types of molecules often in high throughput applications. 3 DSTI/STP/BNCT(2015)4 specific traits and attributes that have high value food, nutrition, health applications or lead to new biobased products; Accelerating the growth of yield potential and optimal nutritional composition (especially micronutrient and protein content where applicable) in food produced; Promoting an ecosystem approach by studying the soil ecosystem to better understand interactions between plants and soil microflora that can be used in order to sustainably intensify crop production; Supporting human health by enabling the production of food with enhanced food safety, nutrition and functional attributes, and addressing specific health concerns through increased availability of high quality food products; and Breeding for traits that will lessen the production footprint on the environment, such as through adaptation for minimum tillage production to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or herbicide tolerance to reduce the use of crop protection materials, or by reducing livestock or aquaculture greenhouse gas emissions. 3. Omics-technologies may in the future also be combined with emerging approaches like synthetic biology to use available genetic building blocks to create "bespoke" or "built for purpose" non-food crops including marine organisms, like algae, for applications such as biofuels and biobased products. 4. In addition, developments in systems biology lead to deeper insights of how genomic and other omics information can be used in an integrated manner to address ambitious goals of higher and more sustainable production. 5. Overall, omics-technologies for food production can bring opportunities for investments with potential benefits for human health and nutrition, deliver better solutions for environmental needs and climate change. Globally there is a capacity engaged in using those techniques in the agri-food and other food production sectors to help address major social, economic and environmental challenges in the context of the development of a sustainable bioeconomy. 6. The project that started in 2014 focusses on the applications of omics-technologies for food production. The project builds on the Bioeconomy 2030 report2 where it relates to the application of biotechnology to agriculture and food production. In the context of discussions around the global capacity for omics-research and development (R&D) for food production and how these are governed and regulated, countries are seeking to share their knowledge and experience with other OECD-member countries and with non-member countries. It is an opportunity to reflect on what to anticipate about what the future holds for likely applications of omics for food production3 and the role they can play in the sustainable intensification of global agriculture, aquaculture and livestock husbandry. 2 OECD (2009), Bioeconomy 2030 – Designing a Policy Agenda, OECD, Paris. 3 Delegates will note that the OECD’s Working Group on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology of the Environment