GMO Analytics
When we talk about genetically modified organisms plants are meant in the first place. The first genetically modified plants were cultivated on a commercial scale in 1995. Since then the global cultivation has been risen continuously – in the meantime there are hundreds of different genetically modified plants.
The increasing complexity is also reflected in a number of EU regulations, official rules and recommendations, dealing with the marketability, labeling, thresholds and analytical methods of GMO in food- and feedingstuff.
For more than 20 years we have been specialized in the analysis of GMO and we possess the experience and analytical tools not only to detect or identify genetically modified plants but also to make exact quantitative statements.
Impetus Bioscience has the competence to identify and quantify all genetically modified plants authorized in the EU as well as many non-authorized events by means of screening, construct- and event-identification.
Not only do we offer you first-rate analyses but as well competent advice on all issues relating to GMO.
SCREENING
All commercially relevant GMO contain certain genetic elements that can be searched for in screening reactions. Positive results indicate the existence of a genetic modification.
Genetically modified plants (gm plants) contain foreign genes that provide the plants with new properties like herbicide tolerance or insect resistance. The function of genes depends on certain regulatory DNA sequences, so-called promoters and terminators.
All gm plants approved in the EU and most of the plants cultivated worldwide contain such regulatory sequences. Since many different gm plants contain the identical regulatory sequences a positive screening result strongly indicates the presence of some genetic modification but does not allow the unambiguous identification of a specific gm plant.
The “classic” screening comprises the 35S promoter and NOS terminator but in the meantime there are many gm plants on the market that do not contain this two elements, i.e. they would not be detected. In dependence of the matrix to be analysed we recommend an extended screening which will detect almost all gm plants cultivated worldwide.
CONSTRUCT-SPECIFIC DETECTION
One gene or several genes together with the necessary regulatory sequences are called a gene construct.
Often identical constructs have been inserted into different plant species. So the detection of a particular construct may prove an exact genetic modification without giving any clues about the specific gm plant.
EVENT-SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATION
An event-specific analysis searches for the presence of a DNA sequence unique to a certain gm plant, usually the junction between the gene construct and the plant`s original DNA. This approach is ideal to precisely identify a specific gm plant.
