CHINA DOCUMENTS BT COTTON EXPERIENCE

Bt cotton, the first biotechnology crop approved for commercialization in China, now accounts for more than 60 percent of the total acreage of cotton in the country. This was a result of scientific activities on the research and development of transgenic insect resistant cotton which was incorporated as one of the key projects under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s National High Tech R & D Program (863 Program) institutionalized in 1996. This perspective was discussed in the book “Transgenic Cotton” which traces Bt cotton development in China.

Transgenic Cotton presents a general situation of cotton production breeding in China, and moves on to a multidisciplinary discussion that includes molecular cloning and characterization, transformation, genetics and breeding, cultivation, entomology, pathology, biosafety assessment, and economic impacts.

More than 30 institutions collaborated on the publication of the book, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the English language. It is edited by JIA Shirong of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and chief scientist of the 863 Program. For more information, visit http://www.lifescience.com.cn.

ISLAM AND BIOTECH ADDRESSED IN MALAYSIA

Essentially, there is no paradox between the Islam faith and biotechnology. However, the development and use of biotechnology must be governed by guidelines set by Islam from the maqasid-al-shariah (“purposes of the Islamic jurisprudence”). Shakh Mohd Saifuddeen bin Shaikh Mohd Salleh, senior fellow of the Centre for Science and Technology, Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) explained this view during a seminar on the “Sustainable utilization of biodiversity and the related issues on biosafety in an Islamic perspective” held in Bangi, Malaysia. He recommended the establishment of a National Bioethics Council composed of scientists, philosophers, ethicists, and religious scholars, to explore issues pertaining to biodiversity, biotechnology, and biosafety.

Jointly organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre, the seminar attempted to discuss main concerns of Islam with such issues as biodiversity and biotechnology. Sheikh Mohd Salleh noted that Islam views knowledge as an important component for mankind. Hence, mankind should identify new resources by systematically exploring biodiversity. Use of these resources, however, must be guided by responsibility and justice to ensure sustainability and safety.

During the same seminar, Y. Bhg. Dato’ Suboh bin Mohd Yassin, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, noted that Malaysia is one of the world’s 12 hotspots of biodiversity and that there is a huge potential for wealth creation. Biotechnology is one technology, she said, which has been envisaged as one key tool under the National Policy on Biological Diversity to harness such wealth.

However, it is important to get public participation and awareness on the challenges and opportunities in the use of such wealth within the context of an Islamic environment.

Additional information on the Islamic conference may be obtained by emailing Mahaletchumy Arujanan of the Malaysian Biotechnology Centre at maha@bic.org.my.

Dr. K.R. Kranthi and colleagues of the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) document their four year in depth study of Bt cotton in India in “Temporal and intra-plant variability of Cry1Ac expression in Bt-cotton and its influence on the survival of the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera).” The article appears in the latest issue of the Indian journal Current Science.

By quantifying the Cry1Ac content and activity of leaves and fruiting parts taken from eight Bt cotton hybrids, scientists found that at least 1.9 micrograms of Cry1Ac should be available per gram of tissue in order for H. armigera to be made susceptible to the toxin. They also found that 1) Cry1Ac expression was variable among hybrids; 2) expression of the gene declined progressively over crop growth and went below critical levels when plants turned 100-115 days old; and 3) Cry1Ac expression was variable among different plant parts, with leaves expressing the highest amounts of the toxin, and ovary and boll rind the lowest.

Dr. Akhilesh Prasad Singh, India’s Minister of State for Agriculture, said in response that the government is evolving resistant management strategies for Bt cotton technology to increase the crop’s effective life span from 11-12 years to 30-40 years, with the hope that it will continuously yield bumper cotton production and ensure environmental sustainability.

Read the press release at http://pib.nic.in/release/
release.asp?relid=10674 or download the article from http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jul252005/291.pdf. You may also Bhagirath Choudhary of ISAAA South Asia at b.choudhary@cgiar.org.

PAPER EXAMINES NAKED MAIZE GRAIN ORIGINS

Corn’s ancestor, the wild Mexican grass teosinte, features encased kernels that are hard to remove, cook, and eat. Somewhere along the way, the kernels were freed, and corn grew on the surface of the ear, making it an easy-to-consume food source, and becoming today’s maize. The steps, genetic or otherwise, which led to the change, were regarded as an evolutionary mystery, until Huai Wang of the University of Wisconsin and colleagues looked into “The origin of the naked grains of maize.” The results of their work appear in the latest issue of Nature.

Armed with the maize genetic map, physical maps for maize inbreds B73 and Mo17, and the rice physical map, scientists set out to develop a set of molecular markers near tga1, which they found was to be the single controlling gene of maize domestication. Teosinte’s Tga1, or teosinte glume architecture, was different from its maize counterpart by only one amino acid. With more experiments involving blotting, hybridization, and PCR, scientists also mapped tga1 expression, which was strong in immature ears, weak in husks, and nowhere in other corn tissues.

Nature subscribers can access the full article at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/
v436/n7051/full/nature03863.html. Other readers can take a look at the preview at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/
v436/n7051/abs/nature03863.html.

BIOTECHNICA FAIR, AWARD, AND FORUM 2005

This year’s International Trade Fair for Biotechnology will be held in Hannover, Germany on the 18th- 20th of October. A total of 900 companies will participate in the event, which includes the Biotecnica Partnering Forum and the Third European Biotechnica Award. The award acknowledges the efforts of companies in the fields of biotechnology and the life sciences, in particular efforts in the development of innovative products and services that translate into successful concepts and business ideas. Any small or medium-sized company operating in the field of biotechnology/life sciences and based in Europe is entitled to take part. The 2005 award is valued at a total of 40,000 euros. 20,000 euros will be awarded to the winner, while the remaining 20,000 euros will take the form of tangible assets. For more information, contact Oliver Wedekind at
oliver.wedekind@messe.de or visit http://www.messe.de and http://www.biotechnica.de for more information.