Let the Papaya Live!

Hello once again everyone, Kristen here. In the last post we addressed a little of the debate surrounding Golden Rice. In this one we’re going to talk about Hawaii. Well, not just Hawaii but Hawaiian papaya. The Hawaiian papaya is another example that shows the potential possibilities that GM technology is able to achieve.

So, what’s the story?

Hawaii. A beautiful tropical island which exports many of its locally grown produce like pineapples, sugar cane and you guessed it, papaya.

However, the terrible truth is that the Hawaiian papaya industry was almost completely wiped out. In the 1940’s, the incurable virus known as the papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) first breached the island’s fruit. In the next couple of years, all over the island, field after field of the fruit would be lost. It seemed to be the beginning of the end to an industry that was estimated to be worth about 11 million dollars.

Papaya affected by the ringspot virus

What changed?

In 1992, a scientist named Dennis Gonsalves who himself was born In Hawaii found what seemed to be the solution. He decided to fix the fruit using the very thing killing it. Sounds crazy, right?

With GM technology and the help of two other scientists, Gonsalves inserted a gene from the virus into the genetic code of the papaya. Eventually, a plant completely resistant to the virus was created. They called the GM fruit it produced Rainbow Papaya.

Rainbow papaya now makes up about 77% of the papaya crop produced now and is frequently cited as one of GM technologies biggest successes.

However as with most GM stories there are two sides to read about.

Anti-GMO activists came together with the government of Hawaii and proposed a bill to ban all GMO products. This bill received more support than any other controverstial bill. (New York Times, 2014)

Scientists and farmers alike were in complete opposition to the bill, claiming they were being ”treated like criminals” for growing fruit.(Sibucao, 2013). In 2014 the bill was approved. But just a year later a federal Judge in the US Court of Appeal terminated the bill stating that Hawaiian countries were not allowed to enact GMO bans. There is still  some economic backlash as a result of this as some countries still enforce strict bans against GM products. Issues relating to labeling and regulation are also still a hindrance to the industry

Today the rainbow papaya thrives but so does the debate. Are humans allowed to take nature into their own hands and prevent selected species from going extinct? Are anti-GMO activists right or are they opposing means by which global food security can be improved?

Find out even more by following the sources.

Sources and Images

Brodwin Erin, "GMO papaya saved an $11 million industry in Hawaii-and set off a political storm" (2017)  retrieved from:

https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2017/06/26/gmo-papayas-saved-11-million-industry-set-off-political-storm-hawaii/

Callis Tom, "Papaya: A GMO success story"(2013)

retrieved from: http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/papaya-gmo-success-story.html

Held Elizabeth, "How GMO Technology Saved the Papaya" (2016)

retrieved from: http://www.foodinsight.org/gmos-papaya-summer-fruit-ringspot-virus

Smyth Stuart, "How GM Papaya Saved Hawaii's Papaya industry" (2015) retrieved from: http://www.saifood.ca/gm-papaya/