MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A company that tests crop samples for the presence of genetically modified traits has developed a sophisticated test that can be used at the grain elevator.
EnviroLogix has been manufacturing GM tests since 1999. The company uses two types of tests to determine if a GM trait exists in a grain sample and at what level: protein detection and molecular detection.
Protein tests are cheap, quick and simple.
“I could show you in five minutes how to do the assay and you’d be perfectly proficient at doing this type of analysis,” said Jamie Welch, supervisor of technical support at EnviroLogix.
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The protein test takes five minutes and costs $40, so companies specializing in marketing non-GM crops can easily test hundreds of trucks unloading at the elevator at harvest time.
Protein tests are excellent for raw grains but don’t work well for products that are heated or processed because that causes proteins to denature and fall apart.
Molecular or DNA tests work well on raw grains as well as processed or consumer-ready products. They allow for a lower limit of detection of a GM trait.
The drawback is they are more complicated tests that require highly skilled scientists working in a dedicated lab. It takes two hours and costs $200 to $600 per sample.
“They both have their places and that’s why if you use them together they work really well,” said Welch in an interview following his presentation at the 10th Oilseed & Grain Trade Summit.
The gold standard for DNA testing has been the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
EnviroLogix has created its own DNA test called DNAble that is cheaper and faster than the PCR test.
“It is starting to get to the point where you could do DNA analysis of the GMO content on site,” said Welch.
With PCR tests, samples have to be repeatedly heated and then cooled to break the DNA apart so that it can be amplified.
DNAble is a more user-friendly isothermal DNA amplification test that amplifies DNA at one constant temperature of 56 C.
EnviroLogix has conducted tests using the portable, battery operated DNAble machines that take seven minutes.
The amplifier equipment costs $4,000 compared to up to $40,000 for the thermal cycler used in PCR tests.
The other big advantage with DNAble is that operators can use crude samples that don’t require much preparation.
Welch said there is not always a perfect correlation between protein and DNA tests because protein expression can vary.
DNAble paves the way for using a DNA-based test at the elevator and then again further down the value chain.
“It would be nice to compare apples to apples,” he said.
Welch said having a DNA-based test that can be used at the elevator will be important in the future.
Some of the new GM traits in the development pipeline do not have a novel protein associated with the modification, so the only way to detect them will be at the DNA level.
Welch said there is a growing demand for GM trait tests. A 2015 Nielsen survey shows that 43 percent of global consumers consider GM-free to be very important attribute when buying food and 33 percent are willing to pay a premium for GM-free products.
There are two main certifiers of GM-free products in the U.S. The Non-GMO Project has been operating since 2005.
The newcomer is the NSF Non-GMO True North program that started in September, 2015. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also runs a non-GM process verification program.
Welch said the Non-GMO Project allows up to 1.5 percent GM content in feed inputs but will be doubling that amount for the next couple of years in an attempt to bolster supplies. The NSF Non-GMO True North program allows five percent GM content.
Suppliers of non-GM food are not the only ones using testing. Life science companies that develop the GM traits also use the service.
“They are using it for that positive identification for traits being there,” he said.
