EUROPEAN
INITIATIVE TO HELP DEVELOP BIOTECH
The Young Innovative Company (YIC), a project
supported by France Biotech and EuropaBio, and funded by the
European Commission, is expected to encourage the development
of biotechnology and could help counter opposition to genetically
modified crops in Europe. Biotech associations from Sweden,
Finland, Norway, and Estonia have joined this initiative,
which is aimed at creating and developing globally competitive
R & D-driven companies.
The YIC status can help develop small companies
through social cost and tax exemptions by allowing them to
reinvest the savings in R & D. France was the first country
to adopt a YIC-based fiscal regime, exempting companies up
to eight years from taxes and social contributions.
More
on this initiative from http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=64052-biotech-gm-crops
EC ALLOWS DENMARK TO COMPENSATE LOSS DUE TO
GMO PRESENCE
The
European Commission has authorized Denmark to pay compensation
to farmers with conventional or organic crops that suffer
economic losses when genetically modified (GM) material is
found. The compensation will be granted only if the presence
of GM material exceeds 0.9 % and is limited to the price difference
between the market price of a crop that has to be labelled
as containing GM material and a crop for which no such labelling
is required. The compensation is financed by obligatory contributions
from farmers who cultivate GM crops.
Economic losses may occur due to admixture of conventional
crops with GM material if a farmer’s product has to
be labelled as containing GM material and he gets a lower
price for them. The compensation fund will be replaced by
private insurance as soon as it is available. The duration
of the compensation scheme is limited to 5 years.
For
further information, visit http://europa.eu.int/rapid/press
ReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/1458&format=HTML&aged
=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en.
ISRAEL COMMITS
$30 M TO BIOTECH RESEARCH
The National Institute of Biotechnology in
the Negev (NIBN) of the Ben-Gurion University in Israel will
receive $30 M from the Israeli government to speed track research.
This is part of the $3.6 B 10-year development plan to develop
the Negev region. Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Ehud Olmert said that the NIBN is expected to get a $90 research
fund.
Swiss banker Edgar de Picciotto provided the
incentive, financial support and vision to establish the NIBN.
The research institute was established to create a more effective
academic platform for an applied biotechnology industry in
the Negev in particular and in Israel in general.
See
the full article in http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/
DocView.asp?did=1000031548
BORLAUG WINS THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE
Dr.
Norman Borlaug, of Texas A&M University, and Father of
the Green Revolution, was one of this year’s recipients
of the National Medal of Science, the United States’
highest honor for science and technology. Awarded by the National
Science Foundation, the award is honored yearly to individuals
for pioneering scientific research in a range of fields, including
physical, biological, mathematical, social, behavioral, and
engineering sciences.
Other
recipients were Kenneth J. Arrow, economist, from Stanford
University; Robert N. Clayton, geochemist, from the University
of Chicago; Edwin N. Lightfoot, chemical engineer, University
of Wisconsin-Madison; Stephen J. Lippard, chemist, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge; Phillip A. Sharp, Nobel
Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology; Thomas E. Starzl, “Father of Transplantation,”
from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; and
Dennis P. Sullivan, mathematician, State University of New
York at Stony Brook.
For more information about the National Medal of Science visit
http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/awards/nms/medal.htm. See the full
list
at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/11/
20051114-5.html
ASIA NEEDS EDUCATION
AND CAPACITY BUILDING FOR BIOTECH
Multi-partner collaboration is necessary for
technology to move forward as “a relay race where development
of technology, taking it through the regulatory process, preparing
the system, including farmers, for its safe and suitable use
and market access should be taken with equal importance.”
This was forwarded by Purvi Mehta-Bhatt and colleagues in
“An overview of regulation, perceptions and priorities
for GM crops in Asian countries” published in the Vol.
7, No. 3 issue of the Asian Biotechnology and Development
Review.
The article notes that while investments in
research are important, equal attention must be given to education
and capacity building efforts so that the products of research
reaches its beneficiaries. Yet delays in events and policies
can mean rising costs, lack of impact at the rural level,
regulatory requirements in need of clarification, loss of
confidence among the stakeholders, and more direct accountability.
These emerging concerns must therefore be addressed to hasten
impact.
More
on the Asian Biotechnology and Development Review at http://www.ris.org.in/abdr.html
VIETNAM
SEEKS COOPERATION WITH U.S. ON HI-TECH INDUSTRIES
Vietnam is keen on enhanced cooperation with
the United States in such areas as communications, new materials,
automation, biotechnology, and applicable technologies in
agriculture, healthcare, and the environment. This was stressed
by Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bui Manh Hai
during an interview with the Vietnam News Agency in Hanoi
on the occasion of the Vietnam-US Science and Technology Day.
Bui Manh Hai noted that Vietnamese scientists
expect to work with their American counterparts in creating
new animal and plant strains, and developing other cutting-edge
technologies in the agricultural sector. He affirmed Vietnamese
scientists’ capability to work on advanced technologies.
About 65 joint projects have already been conducted between
the two countries.
Email
Le Hien of Biotech Vietnam at hienbiotechvn@pmail.vnn.vn
for other news summaries on biotechnology.
RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR BIOTECH PRODUCT DEVT IN EAST AFRICA
Key challenges continue to be faced by small-scale
farmers in the access of technology. John Komen and colleagues
in “Biotechnology product development partnerships:
emerging institutional capacities in East Africa” recommend
that East Africa should consider the following concerns for
potential future efforts in research, training, and policy
advocacy:
* Developing and implementing clear national
policies, legal framework, and regulatory guidelines for biotechnology
R & D
* Strengthening of the local private sector
*
Financial incentives to promote private sector investment
in
R & D programs
* Introducing organizational reforms in public
organizations to facilitate R & D partnerships
* Designing capacity building and awareness
programs to stimulate entrepreneurship and business development
The article, published in the Vol. 7, No.
3 issue of the Asian Biotechnology and Development Review,
summarizes a series of studies conducted in East African countries
to analyze product development in biotechnology, including
public and private sector roles and interactions.
Read
more of the Asian Biotechnology and Development Review at
http://www.ris.org.in/abdr.html
ASADI TO STRENGTHEN
SCIENCE ACADEMIES IN AFRICA
The
African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) recently
held its first annual conference in Nairobi, Kenya. Entitled
“Harnessing Science and Technology Capacity,”
the conference included public sessions, and brought together
150 African academicians, government officials, and outside
experts.
ASADI was established in 2004 to strengthen African academies'
ability to inform government policy-making and public discourse
with independent, evidence-based advice. The initiative is
supported by a $20 million grant from the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation and administered by the U.S. National Academies.
It will be carried out in Africa over the next decade, focusing
on efforts to improve human health.
The initial focal points for the initiative
are the science academies of Nigeria, Uganda, and South Africa.
Strategic planning grants will also be given to the science
academies of Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, and Kenya, as well
as the regional African Academy of Sciences.
Read
all about the initiative at http://www.nationalacademies.org/nairobi/
PAPER
DOCUMENTS PLANT DERIVED TRANSFER DNA
Introducing
foreign DNA to plant cells may be undertaken through a variety
of methods, one of them being the use of transfer DNA. One
such kind is Agrobacterium-mediated
transfer, wherein a Ti plasmid derived from a plant pathogen
is used to allow a foreign gene to integrate into the plant
host’s genome.
In
an effort to develop “Plant-Derived Transfer DNAs,”
Caius M. Rommens and colleagues from Simplot Plant Sciences
searched through DNA databases for sequences in plants which
matched those in transfer DNAs, and which could possibly be
used as alternatives to Agrobacterium. Their work appears
in the latest issue of Plant Physiology.
Through
isolation of the fragments and subsequent transformation of
tobacco
cells, researchers described such alternatives from both dicotyledonous
(potato,
tomato,
pepper, alfalfa,
and Arabidopsis)
and monocotyledonous (rice,
barley,
and wheat)
plant species. Efficacy tests showed that 14 of the elements
they found displayed at least 50% of the activity of conventional
Agrobacterium
transfer DNA.
With
their work, researchers were also able to construct an all-native
alfalfa
transfer DNA vector that can be used for the production of
intragenic plants.
Subscribers
to Plant Physiology may read the article at http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/139/3/1338.
Other
readers may still view the abstract at http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/abstract/139/3/1338
RESEARCH FINDS
APHID RESISTANCE IN CHINESE SOYBEAN CULTIVARS
The
soybean aphid is a major pest of the crop, and is difficult
to control and remedy. There are currently no commercial cultivars
with resistance to the pest, but headway has been made in
the latest issue of Crop Science, where Clarice Mensah of
Michigan State University, and colleagues, document the “Resistance
to Soybean Aphid in Early Maturing Soybean Germplasm.”
Soybean
aphids can transmit viruses such as Alfalfa mosaic virus,
Soybean mosaic virus, and Bean yellow mosaic virus. To identify
sources of resistance to such a pest, researchers evaluated
2,147 soybean accessions originally from northern China by
hand inoculating them with aphid populations, and evaluating
them 10 days after. After two years of evaluation, researchers
found that four accessions from Shandong province, PI 567543C,
PI 567597C, PI 567541B, and PI 567598B, were resistant to
the soybean aphid.
Researchers
hope that these strains can be incorporated to soybean
germplasm in order to develop commercial cultivars with aphid
resistance for use in the United States.
Subscribers
to Crop Science may read the complete article at http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/45/6/2228
HIGH CALCIUM
MEANS LONGER SHELF LIFE FOR TOMATO
Calcium
is an essential mineral to plants, and without it, most tissues
can be rendered susceptible to parasitic diseases during storage.
Such problems with calcium in plants can be traced to the
soil – and such problems may be alleviated by engineering
high expression of calcium transporters and binding proteins
into plant cells.
Sunghun
Park of Texas A&M University, and colleagues report on
“Increased Calcium Levels and Prolonged Shelf Life in
Tomatoes Expressing Arabidopsis H+/Ca2+ Transporters”
in the latest issue of Plant Physiology. They evaluate plant
growth and development after introduction of the traits, and
see how increased calcium can affect a plant’s morphology.
By
transforming tomato
plants with either sCAX1 or CAX4, two Arabidopsis genes, researchers
found that tomato
fruits had higher levels of calcium and prolonged shelf life.
Plants expressing sCAX1, however, had altered plant development
and morphology. The CAX4 plants, on the other hand, although
expressing calcium at lower levels, showed no remarkable changes
in plant growth. In either case, there were no significant
increases of other plant minerals, such as iron, magnesium,
and zinc, as compared with controls.
Subscribers
to Plant Physiology can access the complete article at http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/139/3/1194.
Other
readers may still view the abstract at http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/abstract/139/3/1194
BRAZIL
CONFERENCE SLATED
“Biotechnology
and Brazil: Implications and Opportunities for Global Agriculture”
is scheduled to take place on March 8 - 9, 2006, in São
Paulo, Brazil. The conference will examine the implications
of biotechnology regarding cost of production of soybeans
and future GMO crops; the positions and policies that Europe
has taken with regard to GMO soybeans, cotton and corn, and
consumer concerns surrounding GMO labeling.
For
more information, visit http://www.agra-net.com/biotech06
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