It is vital that breeding and seed production programs conduct testing for adventitious presence (AP) of unwanted biotech traits. A properly timed AP test can eliminate the cost of advancing material contaminated with an unwanted biotech trait and provide tangible evidence of a quality seed product.
For seed producers wanting to know the rate of AP contamination, the semi quantitative AP test provides flexibility for statistical analysis to determine the possible upper bound limit of a contamination with a 95 percent confidence level. This information will help the customer to decide on the acceptance of the seed lot. This method reduces the risk of rejecting a good lot since a range of AP contamination may be acceptable within different markets. By identifying seed lots with AP contamination beyond established limits, a seed producer can avoid the cost of advancing or processing seed lots that are out of tolerance.
At EBDI we utilize a statistical model termed Seedcalc to determine the probability of contamination within a seed lot. Seedcalc is an MS Excel file with different tabs, each corresponding to a different question regarding AP testing in seeds.
The benefits of a robust AP testing program for seed production and plant breeding are: