Pledge Award Winner: SDA Soybean Development Provides a Sustainable Source of Omega-3
When biotechnology was in its infancy, there were expectations of grand outcomes: rice that could make beta carotene, tomatoes that would stay fresh longer and foods packed with extra nutrients.
In today’s age of virtually instant gratification, nearly 13 years is a long time to wait for commercially available results. But in the scientific world, 13 years is a blink of an eye. After more than a decade of farmer-focused benefits, biotechnology has created a product the consumer may have a hard time passing up. Imagine—a salad dressing made with soybean oil that contains heart-healthy Omega-3 benefits without a fishy flavor. You can have your cake (made with a sustainable source of Omega-3) and eat it, too.
Stearidonic Acid (SDA) Omega-3 soybeans are one of the first Monsanto biotechnology products designed to directly benefit the consumer instead of the farmer. Stearidonic acid is one of several types of Omega-3s. When commercialized, these soybeans could provide food companies and consumers with another source of heart-healthy essential Omega-3 fatty acids. Currently, the main alternatives are oily fish like salmon or the use of dietary supplements like black currant seed oil. Despite the known health benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids, their use has been limited due to the flavor and shelf life limitations of fish oil.
“By including this new soybean oil variant into regular foods, we will be able to raise the blood levels of Omega-3 across a wide range of consumers, many of whom would never eat fish,” Dr. William Harris at the University of South Dakota said. Harris helped the Monsanto team develop nutrition studies on SDA soybeans. “This is like adding iodine to salt to prevent goiter, folic acid to grain products to reduce birth defects, and vitamins A and D to milk to reduce their deficiencies. Omega-3 fortification will have a very important impact on the major, chronic diseases of western societies.”
An additional growing global concern is the impact our diet has on wild fish. Omega-3 fatty acids from seed oil could reduce some of the pressure on wild fish.
“An additional environmental benefit is that SDA provides a crop-grown sustainable source of Omega-3 for human consumption that may alleviate the potential of overfishing,” Ernie Sanders, Monsanto quality trait project lead said.
To date, Monsanto has primarily developed biotechnology products intended to increase yield and reduce input costs, so the team navigated unfamiliar waters to develop and gain regulatory clearance for nutritionally modified soybeans intended to directly benefit humans.
In order to tackle these new challenges, a team was pulled together with expertise in biotechnology, biochemistry, breeding, nutrition, food formulation and development, soybean processing, dietary assessments, regulatory approvals of food products and aquaculture. Throughout the process, the team shared data with many outside resources, described the benefits of the product, and was transparent with the food and nutrition industry. They built a platform of cooperation internally and externally with their collaboration partner Solae--as well as many different internal and external stakeholders, including nutrition and health researchers, food researchers, and the aquaculture and livestock industries.
“We have an excellent group of motivated people who take ownership, solve problems, and provide support and leadership across the organization,” Sanders said. “That’s first and foremost the most rewarding part of this project, but being the first nutrition-based product to be introduced to the world as a result of biotechnology is also rewarding.”
As a result, SDA soybeans could give farmers the opportunity to grow a crop that could alleviate overfishing the oceans in search of Omega-3 fatty acids. This product could also benefit the health of consumers by increasing the available dietary sources of heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.
Are these new soybeans also Round-Up ready ? How much DNA alteration can be done before it is no longer called a soybean? Have you ever addressed why animals choose to eat non-GMO beans over your Round-up ready beans? Or was that on purpose to increase yields?
Editor's Note:
The Stearidonic Acid (SDA) Omega-3 soybeans will be stacked with the Genuity™ Roundup Ready 2 Yield® trait. Please see the following links for information regarding the safety of foods containing ingredients derived from biotechnology: For the Record: Food Safety