AgbioInvestor’s free-to-access service AgbioInvestor GM Monitor has identified the following GM trait approvals up to December 2023. Expanded details on these recently approved traits, as well as for approvals dating back as far as 1992, can be found on AgbioInvestor’s GM Monitor website.

Syngenta’s Enogen maize trait Event 3272 (SYN-E3272-5) has received food/feed import approval in Vietnam.

Event 3272, which contains the amy797E gene, expresses alpha amylase in the grain to significantly reduce the viscosity of maize mash and removes the need to add alpha amylase enzymes during post-harvest processing.

Event 3272 was developed by Syngenta, utilising agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of maize tissue using T-DNA, containing the desired genetic information, to transfer a segment of T-DNA into host cells. Successful genetic transformation was then screened for, through the use of Phosphomannose Isomerase (PMI) enzyme to demonstrate the proper insertion of the DNA transcript. Event 3272 maize is classed as an output trait with operational advantages that reduce the costs associated with the crop after it has been harvested.

Enogen maize was developed to aid ethanol and cattle feed production, two key industries that account for the majority of US domestic maize use. When used as a feedstock in bioethanol production, Event 3272 reportedly enhances bioethanol production by increasing the thermostability of amylase used in degrading starch. When used as grain or silage for beef and dairy cattle, the alpha amylase enzyme contained in Enogen products help convert starch into simple sugars more efficiently than traditional maize silage, providing more readily bioavailable energy to beef and dairy cattle.

Varieties containing the Event 3272 have so far received cultivation approval in five countries, starting with Canada and Australia & New Zealand (2008), the USA (2011), Brazil (2016), and most recently Argentina (2023). Australia & New Zealand has approved the use of maize derivatives from Event 3272 for food only, while 16 other countries have approved it for both food and feed uses. The majority of approvals come from North America, Central and South America and the Asia Pacific regions, while none are currently from Europe.

Syngenta first submitted Event 3272 for EU approval in 2006, which was then declined by the EFSA in 2013 due to a lack of information provided. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) later provided an updated scientific opinion of Event 3272, undertaken by the GMO Panel in 2019 (see AgbioNews Nov 11, 2019), which concluded that the agronomic and phenotypic characteristics as well as forage and grain composition of Event 3272 do not give rise to food and feed safety or nutritional concerns when compared to non‐GM maize. However, the EFSA has stated that, considering the scope of this application and the characteristics of the trait introduced in Event 3272, the effect of processing and potential safety implications of specific food or feed products remain to be further investigated with the panel remaining unclear whether, under specific circumstances, the alpha‐amylase amy797E has the capacity to cause adverse effects. However, the panel concluded that, under specific conditions of use, dried distiller grains with solubles (DDGS), the main product of interest for importation into the European Union, produced from Enogen maize does not raise concerns when compared to DDGS from non‐GM maize.

In 2018, more than 300,000 hectares of Enogen maize was cultivated in the US.