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Today we welcome Dr. Katy Rainey.
Katy is an expert in soybean genetics, and today she's going to talk to us about the
history of the soybean, and help us understand how high oleic soybeans compare with regular
soybeans.
Welcome Katy.
First of all, get us started and give us a little bit of history about the soybean.
Sure, uh, soybeans were first cultivated over 3,000 years ago in East Asia and farmers began
selecting different varieties of soybeans from the wild type.
And then around 1700, they spread to Europe and North America.
In the US they started being cultivated around World War II on a wide scale, and crop scientists
started selectively breeding them to improve their performance including improving the
oil and protein profiles.
So, the soybean seed is about 20% oil which is very high, and that oil, that 20% oil is
divided into different constituents that have different properties for health and performance
in cooking.
And then when you go to the grocery store, vegetable oil is soybean oil.
Okay, so when we vegetable oil we just should know that that is soybean oil.
Yeah Great.
So, how is the high oleic soybean genetically different than a regular soybean?
Okay, that's a great question.
All high oleic soybeans do have genetic differences from soybeans of the more typical oil profile.
So there are three sources and two of those sources are transgenic or GMO, and the third
sort of type or source of high oleic soybeans is through mutation in native genes.
The transgenic or GMO soybeans are produced using a technology known as RNA interference.
And actually RNA interference is present throughout all of life, virtually, and it's part of even
the innate immune response of humans.
It's a genetic mechanism that suppresses the action of viruses and in this case the scientists
are using it to turn down the expression of the native genes.
It's similar to dimming a light switch.
And then the mutant high oleic soybeans just have a mutated native gene that is also reducing
expression and so it alters the oil profile to be high oleic.
So, is there any difference from a farmers perspective?
When you look at the two different beans?
Yeah, so any high oleic soybean compared to a soybean with a typical oil profile from
the perspective if consumers, or from the perspective of farmers would be about the same in terms
of performance, though there's still some research going on to determine exactly small
differences in performance, and then for consumers, of course the high oleic has a healthier oil
that will be cheaper once the acreage of high oleic soybeans increases and, um, you know, cheaper
and healthier but, uh, you know essentially high oleic soybeans compared to regular soybeans
are the same except for the one difference in oil profile.
So are there any cons to creating the high oleic soybean?
Um, currently the only sort of negative is that the high oleic soybeans have to be identity
preserved or kept separate in the market or value chain from regular soybeans, so that
creates some expense.
But that is anticipated to go away as the acreage of high oleic soybeans increases.
And then from the perspective of consumers, there really are no cons to the high oleic
soybean, and that's, for the transgenic or GMO versions of the high oleic soybean, that's
partially due to the fact that there's a strict regulatory process of approval of that genetic
source to eliminate any potential problems before it reaches the market, so, um, unless
the consumer is concerned about the finer points of economics of the seed industry,
then no, I don't anticipate that there are any cons at all.
It's a benefit for health, and expense of vegetable oil.
Great.
Thank you so much for sharing with us today.
We appreciate Katy giving us the background of the history of the soybean and helping
us understand the genetic differences between high oleic soybeans and regular soybeans.
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