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Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Crops and Insects: Lessons Learned from the Past and Next Steps in a Changing World

    November 12, 2018
    8:00 am - 10:45 am
    Vancouver Convention Center
    Vancouver, Canada

Dr. Andrew Roberts, Deputy Executive Director, delivered the presentation The Global Perspective on ERA Regulations for GE Crops and Insects at the Section Symposium: Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Crops and Insects – Lessons Learned from the Past and Next Steps in a Changing World, which took place during the 2018 Entomoloagy Society of America Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

More detailed information about the session is available on the Entomological Society of America website.

Abstract & Presentation

The Global Perspective on ERA Regulations for GE Crops and Insects
Andrew F. Roberts, Agriculture & Food Systems Institute

Global experience with environmental risk assessment (ERA) for genetically engineered (GE) organisms has focused almost exclusively on considerations for GE crops. Up until now, only a small number of cases featuring a handful of other organisms (including trees, fish, microorganisms and insects) have received regulatory ERA for release to the environment. However, new and emerging technologies are bringing GE insects into the spotlight. This talk will review the current global experience with regulatory ERA of GE insects, identify relevant international treaties (such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety), and offer some insight on how regulatory ERA for GE insects is likely to move forward as these technologies are deployed around the world.

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Agenda

8:00 am

Introductory Remarks

Tony Shelton, Cornell University (Organizer)
Jörg Romeis, Agroscope (Organizer)
Ana Maria Velez, University of Nebraska (Organizer)

8:10 am

Evolution of Environmental Risk Assessment for GM Crops

Paul Jepson, Oregon State University

8:20 am

Assessing the Risk of Bt Crops to Arthropod Natural Enemies: A Tri-Trophic Perspective

Steven Naranjo, USDA – ARS
Tony Shelton, Cornell University
Junce Tian, Zhejiang University
Jörg Romeis, Agroscope
Richard Hellmich, USDA – ARS

8:30 am

Systematically Reviewing Non-Target Effects of Bt Maize on Arthropods in Field Studies: Pitfalls and Opportunities of Meta-Analysis

Michael Meissle, Agroscope
Steven Naranjo, USDA – ARS
Jörg Romeis, Agroscope

8:40 am

Risk Assessment of RNAi and Gene Editing in Pest Management

Ana Velez, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

8:50 am

Gene Drive: An Overview for Pest Management

Timothy Harvey-Samuel, Pirbright Institute

9:00 am

Role of Population Modification in the Malaria Eradication Agenda

Anthony James and Rebeca Carballar-Lejarazú, University of California, Irvine

9:10 am

The US System for Regulating GE Organisms in Agriculture

Lisa Knolhoff, USDA – APHIS

9:20 am

The Global Perspective on ERA Regulations for GE Crops and Insects

Andrew F. Roberts, Agriculture & Food Systems Institute

9:30 am

The Cornell-Oxitec Project: The First Release of Self-Limiting Insects in North America

Tony Shelton, Cornell University
Neil Morrison, Oxitec Ltd.

9:40 am

Fall Armyworm in Africa: Can GE Technologies Be Part of the Solution?

Joseph E. Huesing and Regina Eddy, United States Agency for International Development

9:50 am

Biological Control of Human Diseases and Crop Pests with GM Insects

Brad Shurdut, Intrexon Corporation
Neil Morrison, Oxitec Ltd.
Catherine Reavey, Oxitec Ltd.

10:00 am

Managing GM Crop Dominated Landscapes: Case of the Monarch Butterfly

Richard Hellmich, USDA – ARS

10:10 am

Panel Discussion