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KNOWLEDGE SHARING ON CROP BIOTECH IN INDIA The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech
Applications (ISAAA) has added India to its network of Biotechnology
Information Centers (BICs) located in Asia, Africa, and Latin
America. ISAAA's network of BICs and institutional links
in the developing world comprises the Global Knowledge Center
on Crop Biotechnology (KC), the core center being based at
the ISAAA Southeast Asia Center in the Philippines.
ISAAA believes that knowledge sharing activities in crop
biotechnology in India would allow India to share with the
rest of the world its experiences in this area. The potential
for the technology and the resulting economic, environmental
and social benefits in India is enormous and promotion of
first hand experience could serve as powerful example for
other developing countries.
The International
Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
has agreed to co-host the India Office
at its liaison office in New Delhi. Its first major project
is the international conference on “Agricultural Biotechnology
Ushering in the Second Green Revolution” to be held
jointly with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
and Industry, and the MS Swaminathan Foundation from August
10-12, 2004. For more information on the India knowledge
sharing initiative, email knowledge.center@isaaa.org. Details
of the international conference can be viewed online at http://www.ficci.com/
ficci/events/events-ahead/aug/aug10-agri.htm
INDIA DEVELOPS LOCAL GM COTTON
Swarna Bharat Biotechnics Private Ltd (SBBPL), in Hyderabad,
India, a consortium of seven Indian seed companies, has received
licenses for two genes derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which protect cotton against bollworm and tobacco caterpillar.
P. Janaki Krishna of the Biotechnology Unit, Institute of
Public Enterprise in Hyderabad, India, reported in the Information
Systems for Biotechnology News Report that the genes are
licensed from the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI),
Lucknow, India, over a three year period and a royalty of
three percent. SBBPL will also likely to get license for
a third gene (LecGNA 2) that directs production of lectin,
a protein lethal to sucking pests such as aphids, from the
publicly funded Centre for Plant Molecular Biology (CPMB),
Osmania University, Hyderabad, India.
Krishna added that the consortium's aim is to toward self-sustaining
agribiotech development. The profit generated by public sector
institutes through licensing will help support reinvestment
in developing more agri-biotech products to serve local needs.
The technology access fee will be shared by members of the
consortium. In addition, Indian partners help with the regulatory
process to obtain product approval.
See
the full article online at http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2004/
news04.aug.html#aug0405.
Contact P. Janaki Krishna at jankrisp@yahoo.com.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS NEW FRAMEWORK TO ASSESS GM FOODS
A committee of scientific experts convened recently to outline
science-based approaches for assessing genetically modified
(GM) foods. Findings and recommendations were published in
a July 2004 executive summary, in response to a request by
the United States Department of Agriculture, the US Food
and Drug Association, and the Environmental Protection Agency,
among other government agencies.
Led by Bettie Sue Masters of the Department of Biochemistry
at the University of Texas Health Center in San Antonio,
the committee recommended that, although no adverse health
effects have been found for GM foods, current methods in
assessing their safety should be improved to further study
any unintentional changes made in them.
A new framework for safety assessment was likewise formulated,
involving comparing the genetically modified food to its
conventional counterpart; the use of more precise scientific
tools for assessing genetically modified foods; making all
assessment results available to the public; deepening the
extent of pre-market and post-market evaluation; and studying
populations with potentially more adverse reactions to modifications
in food products. The committee, however, recommended that
the framework be implemented only with foods found to have
a novel component, or with higher or lower concentrations
of components than in their conventional counterparts.
The report also stressed that all foods with novel components
or altered composition should be subjected to the same rigorous
assessment, whether or not they have been developed by genetic
modification.
The
report in brief is available online at http://books.nap.edu/
openbook/0309092094/html/index.html.
DECLARATION ON BIOTECH FROM LATIN AMERICA
Participants of the 5th Latin American and Caribbean Meeting
on Agricultural Biotechnology (REDBIO 2004) declared their
support for the responsible and rational use of biotechnology
to improve the quality of human life. In the participants'
declaration of support, they mentioned the need to use the
applications of biotechnology in the context of a sound regulatory
framework.
Other concerns that countries needed to address were the
following: strengthen communication efforts across various
sectors of society, particularly in disseminating the benefits
of the technology; foster greater investment in biotechnology
especially in the access, development and validation of technological
packages; and highlight the need for a critical mass of scientists
in the biological sciences.
For the full declaration in Spanish, visit http://www.redbio.org/
rdominicana/redbio2004rd/Memoria_REDBIO_2004/index.htm
ICRISAT'S AGRI-BUS INCUBATOR STARTS GM COTTON INITIATIVE
The Agri-Business Incubator (ABI) at the International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in
Hyderabad, India is now collaborating with private sector
clients.
Bioseed Research India Pvt. Ltd., a part of the DCM Shriram
Group, is working on research projects related to the application
of agricultural biotechnology for the development of superior
cotton hybrids. ICRISAT provides technology assistance for
using molecular markers, gene marker identification, and
genetic transformation. In addition, the seed company can
make use of ICRISAT's greenhouse space, biotechnology labs
and agricultural land for testing of their material.
Dr
William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, said that “The
ABI is an important institution for partnering with the private-sector
companies, where entrepreneurs can develop commercial ventures
using ICRISAT technologies”.
The
other project under the agri-business concept, is with
Rusni Distilleries Pvt.
Ltd., on generating extra-neutral
alcohol (ENA), a raw material for producing potable alcohol,
and fuel alcohol that can be added to petrol from sweet
sorghum varieties developed by ICRISAT. According to ICRISAT
scientist
Kiran Sharma, the collaboration will generate better value
for sorghum, a crop of the semi-arid regions, through its
use for generating alcohol. ICRISAT will help further increase
the sugar content in the sorghum varieties. For further information, contact Dr. Kiran Sharma at k.sharma@cgiar.org.
Visit the ICRISAT website at http://www.icrisat.cgiar.org.
PASS BIOSAFETY LAW SAYS UGANDA MINISTER
Uganda's outgoing minister for agriculture, animal industry
and fisheries, Dr. Wilberforce Kisamba-Mugerwa, has challenged
the country's parliament to pass the national biosafety law
to facilitate the use of biotechnology to ease problems faced
by the country's agriculture sector.
Speaking to reporters in Kampala, Kisamba who has been appointed
to head Ethiopia-based International Service for National
Agricultural Research (ISNAR), said delay in passing the
law has hindered the introduction of Bt cotton and other
genetically improved crops into the country. He lamented
that two government projects aimed at improving banana and
cotton productions in the country have been put on hold due
to lack of biosafety regulations.
Meanwhile,
the executive director of Kampala-based Advocates Coalition
for Development and Environment (ACODE), Mr Godber
Tumushabe, has urged the business community in East Africa
to take keen interest in biotechnology and biosafety policy
developments in the region, reminding them that such policies “may
in future affect your business”/Kenya Biotechnology
Information Center
ARS SCIENTISTS STUDY GENES FOR FERTILIZATION
Research work is being done to enable scientists to alter
the activity of genes that block fertilization of certain
wild species with their domesticated counterparts. Scientists
led by Shiela McCormick of the Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) at the US Department of Agriculture are studying the
genes and proteins that may be key players in fertilization.
According to Marcia Wood of ARS, until such barriers are
overcome, the prized genes that the wild relatives harbor
cannot, in many cases, be easily moved into cultivated species.
Wood explained that genes cue plants to form proteins called
ligands and partner molecules called receptor kinases, which
might be essential to fertilization. McCormick and colleagues
used tomato pollen kinases, discovered in their earlier experiments,
as baits for floral ligands. This discovery enabled them
to identify many potential new ligands.
For more information about this research, see the August
issue of Agricultural Research magazine at http://www.ars.usda.gov/
is/AR/archive/aug04/puzzle0804.htm.
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