http://www.isaaa.org/kc/A weekly summary of world developments in agri-biotech for developing countries, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA).en-usFri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800http://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5610The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in its recently-concluded conference on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries in Mexico has called for a new approach to agricultural research through the use of modern and conventional biotechnologies that will benefit the poor farmers in poor countries. Modibo Traore, FAO Assistant Direct...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Globalhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5619A new project Global Futures for Agriculture has recently been launched by the International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI). The project will enable researchers to develop an enhanced version of IFPRI's International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT), a state-of-the-art economic model that projects the future p...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Globalhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5618Small stakeholders in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, stand to benefit from a donation from the German government amounting to more than $6 million. Inter-regional projects and other initiatives will be implemented between 2010 and 2012 to support food security, nutrition and livelihoods. The donation come...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Africahttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5621Peru's Environment Minister Antonio Brack said that the ministry will publish a new regulation that will prohibit the entry of genetically modified seeds in the country until 2014. Brack said that the planned moratorium was approved after three years of consultation with stakeholders, including a public consultation conducted by the Ministry of Agr...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5612The Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee (ABST) submitted a report to the Environmental Protection Agency the results of the 2009 Bt corn Insect Resistant Management compliance. In the report, Dr. Nick Storer, ABSTC Steering Committee Chairman, said that "While the overwhelming majority of growers are in full or partial compli...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5616Researchers at Stanford University led by molecular biologist Sharon Long have recently discovered a gene from a legume barrel medic that could be the key to nitrogen fixation. Mutant plants of barrel medic failed to produce healthy nodules on their roots. Further investigation showed that the mutant plants generated the proper precursor for the pr...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5617The Canadian government is providing $19 million to the Canola Council of Canada to take the research lead in collaboration with the Flax Council of Canada, industry scientists and universities. Agriculture Minister Gerry Rit made this announcement saying that "The oil seed industry is an important driver of Canada's economy and that's why our Gove...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5608Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service in Washington State University have identified sources of resistance to powdery scab and black dot. The diseases caused by Spongospora subterranean and Colletotrichum coccodes, respectively, attack potato plant's tubers or stems which may lead to yield losses of up to 25...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5604The first known planting of SmartStax, the most advanced corn trait platform available in the industry, was started last week by a farmer at San Patricio, Texas. SmartStax contains genetic traits that would protect corn from above- and below-ground insect pests and two herbicide tolerance traits for a broad-spectrum weed control. "We're excited tha...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5605Corn and soybean with new herbicide trait technology developed by Dow AgroSciences are now being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for regulatory approval. The herbicide tolerance trait technology package for corn includes tolerance to the herbicide 2,4-D and the FOP family of herbicide while the 2,4-D and glufosinate herbicide ...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5609The paper Emerging Issues - Genetically Modified Forages was recently published by the Royal Society of New Zealand. The paper reviews studies into the earlier rejection of genetically modified (GM) food by many consumers in the country which was found to be due to the country's clean green image. Scientists have since then focused efforts on devel...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Asia and the Pacifichttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5627The Philippines remains to be in the forefront of GM/biotech corn adoption in the Asian region being the only country in Asia to grow GM/biotech food. In 2009, the area planted to genetically modified corn is projected to increase to about 490,000, from 11,000 hectares of Bt corn when it was first planted in 2003. This is based on the projection da...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Asia and the Pacifichttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5626The Public Research and Regulation Initiative (PRRI) created a milestone in the GMO regulation debate with a seminar organized for European Union (EU) policymakers on "The impact of EU GMO-regulations on biotechnology research for the public good". This seminar was held at the EU parliament on February 25, 2010 and was jointly organized with the ...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5607The pronouncement of the EU Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli on the authorization of the cultivation of a biotech potato, as well as the commercialization of three biotech maize for food and feed uses and import and processing was met with enthusiasm by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). In response, Sharon Bomer Lauri...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5602The Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli has been given an order to develop and submit a proposal by the European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso, on how a Community authorization system based on science can be combined with freedom of choice to plant GM crops on their respective territories. This came up after the comprehensive a...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5603The European Commission approved the commercialization of BASF's Amflora potato for commercial application in Europe – a long -running decision process since 2003. Amflora potato produces pure amylopectin starch that will be used in paper, textile and adhesive industries. The technology will facilitate the production of the starch which is uneconom...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5614The European Union-Joint Research Centre published nine new plant summary notifications this month. One notification was published from the Czech Republic and the eight others were from Spain. The notifications are: * Biotechnology tools for improving disease resistance and seed quality in legumes; functional genomics and proteomics in plant breed...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5615Scientists at the Plant Sciences Group of Wageningen UR in collaboration with the University of North Carolina (USA) have studied Bt cotton durability against lepidopteran pests. Research published in the journal Evolutionary Ecology showed that durability of Bt cotton may be due to the female insects preference to lay eggs in plants other than Bt ...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5620Scientists from the Texas A&M University are conducting experiments to understand how plants defend themselves from bacterial infections. The researchers are interested in a specific bacterium that infects tomatoes but normally does not bother the common laboratory plant Arabidopsis. Understanding how infection is selective in various organisms...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Researchhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5623Researchers at the Tel Aviv University in Israel are looking at pea as a new source of green energy. Isolating the minute crystals of the Photosystem I super complex from the pea plant, Nathan Nelson suggests these crystals can be illuminated and used as small battery chargers or form the core of more efficient man-made solar cells. Solar energy sy...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Researchhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5624Researchers at the Fuidan University in China and University of Leiden in the Netherlands have developed a model that can effectively predict pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF) in rice. Such model can play an essential role for assessing and managing risks from transgene escape. Jun Rong and colleagues constructed the model based on the pollen disper...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Researchhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5625Teaching corn plants to fix their own nitrogen can eliminate the need for fertilizer applications, which is a major cost of production and can contribute to degradation of the environment. But can corn be taught to fix its own nitrogen? University of Illinois agricultural engineer Kaustubh Bhalerao believes it may be possible through research in an...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Researchhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5622The 12th World Congress of the International Association for Plant Biotechnology (IAPB) will be held at St. Louis, Missouri in the U.S. on June 6-11, 2010. With the theme, "Sustainability through agriculture: food, biomaterials, energy and the environment," the conference will be attended by more than 1,500 research scientists in plant and agricult...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Announcementshttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5611TWAS, the academy of science for the developing world, is now accepting applications for its graduate, postdoctoral, visiting scholar and advanced research fellowships available to scientists from developing countries. Scientists in the following areas - agricultural and biological sciences, medical and health sciences, chemistry, engineering, astr...Fri, 5 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800Announcements