Auer Carol, Frederick Robert
Department of Plant Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-4163, USA.
Trends Biotechnol. 2009 Nov;27(11):644-51. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2009.08.005. Epub 2009 Sep 30.
Crops can be modified by engineering novel RNA interference (RNAi) pathways that create small RNA molecules to alter gene expression in crops or plant pests. RNAi can generate new crop quality traits or provide protection against insects, nematodes and pathogens without introducing new proteins into food and feed products. As a result, stakeholders and regulators need to construct credible ecological risk assessments (ERAs) that characterize potential exposure pathways and hazards for RNAi crops, including off-target effects, non-target effects and impacts from genetic mutations and polymorphisms. New methods are needed to identify RNAi crops and measure the environmental persistence of small RNAs. With some modifications, it seems likely that current ERA frameworks can be applied to most crops engineered through RNAi.
通过构建新的RNA干扰（RNAi）途径可以对作物进行改良，这些途径会产生小RNA分子来改变作物或植物害虫中的基因表达。RNAi可以产生新的作物品质性状，或提供针对昆虫、线虫和病原体的保护，而无需将新蛋白质引入食品和饲料产品中。因此，利益相关者和监管机构需要构建可靠的生态风险评估（ERA），以描述RNAi作物的潜在暴露途径和危害，包括脱靶效应、非靶标效应以及基因突变和多态性的影响。需要新的方法来识别RNAi作物并测量小RNA的环境持久性。经过一些修改后，当前的ERA框架似乎有可能应用于大多数通过RNAi工程改造的作物。
