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 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800http://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5404Developing countries will need to develop and implement effective approaches to assess and manage the potential benefits and risks of genetically engineered crops. Costly regulatory delays can compromise technology delivery and hinder the commercialization of public-sector developed products. This view was forwarded by Jose Falck-Zepeda and collea...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Globalhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5406A project that aims to improve the capacity for yam research-for-development in West and Central Africa (WCA) has received a €750,000 (USD 1 million) grant from the European Union-African, Caribbean and Pacific Science and Technology Program (EU-ACP). The project, tagged Strengthening Capacity for Yam Research-for-Development in Central and Western...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Africahttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5411The International Potato Center (CIP) and partner institutions are implementing a three-year project to develop potato varieties that can adapt to the drought and increased temperatures of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and Bangladesh. Their work is a response to the challenges of environmental constraints and climate change. Scientists are identif...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5413"Without additional support, there will likely be few genetically enhanced crops developed by public sector researchers in the marketplace in the near future," said Dr. Roger Beachy, head of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in an interview published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Beachy ide...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5405Funding for plant genome research in the US has reached an all time high, according to an article published by Nature Biotechnology. In 2009, the National Science Foundation (NSF) doled out USD 101.6 million to 32 plant genome research projects focusing on "economically important crop plants" ranging from West African cultivated rice to poplar tree...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5402An international team of scientists has created a new computational model that can be used to predict gene function of uncharacterized plant genes with unprecedented speed and accuracy. The network, dubbed AraNet, has over 19,600 genes associated with each other by over 1 million links and can increase the discovery rate of new genes affiliated wit...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5399"Feeding the world's growing population in a manner that doesn't compromise the needs of the next generation is a balancing act, but one that can be handled through innovation and environmental stewardship," said Purdue University agronomist Gebisa Ejeta. Ejeta was the recipient of the 2009 World Food Prize for his research in drought- and Striga-r...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5417Wild species of oat Avena barbata has been tapped as a source for resistance to combat crown rust. Crown rust affects oat yields by up to 40 percent. It is caused by Puccinia coronata, a fungus that can overcome a number of resistance genes for about five years, said Martlin L. Carson, the research leader at the USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory i...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5418USDA-ARS chemists March Schmitt and plant physiologist Allen Bunde have been studying the secrets of a good malt in barley. Malt is the delicious flavor or cereals, candies, beers and other foods and beverages. Barleys produce the malt as they germinate. The researchers are interested in the breaking down of proteins and carbohydrates during the pr...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5420U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service chemists Mitchell Wise and Dough Doehlert have observed the strong correlation between crown rust disease pressure and avenanthramide (Avn) production in oat grain. Avns are metabolites with potent antioxidant properties and have been associated with the oat grains' health benefits. In a ...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5401The Pakistani Government aims to increase cotton production in the country through the introduction of insect-resistant Bt cotton, a report by the Daily Times says. In a meeting attended by representatives from the American seed giant Monsanto, officials from Pakistan's Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MINFA) and Ministry of Textile said, the gove...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Asia and the Pacifichttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5403The Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), supported by the National Variety Trials (NVT), has released the results of 150 canola trials across the country in 2009, including 15 containing GM canola. A report, available on the NVT website, outlines the performance of varieties in the GM canola trials and provides information...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Asia and the Pacifichttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5398On May 2009, Portugal notified the European Union its intention to declare the Autonomous Region of Madeira as a GMO-free region. Following the notification, the European Commission requested the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA's) GMO Panel to investigate on whether the information mentioned in the documents submitted by Portugal contains an...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5400The Ukrainian Parliament, Verkhovna Rada, has adopted new laws requiring the mandatory labeling of all products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The new laws' provision requires all food products in circulation in Ukraine to contain information on the presence or absence of GMO ingredients, with the labels "GMO-free" or "With GMO"....Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5412A joint communique from the United Kingdom and French agricultural secretaries was forged "to meet the demands of the European consumer for secure, affordable, healthy, high quality and sustainable food while contributing responsibly to addressing world hunger." Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Bru...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5422Monsanto's herbicide tolerant genetically modified soybean MON89788 has been approved for food and processing in Russia. The soybean is the fourth GM soybean variety to be approved for food use in the country. As of the moment, there are 16 GM crops, including soybean, maize, rice and sugarbeet, approved for use in food in Russia. The announcement ...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5416The Russian Doctrine of Food Security has been recently signed by Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation. The Doctrine is targeted at "reliable supply to the population of food, development of national agricultural and fisheries industry, timely respond to internal and external threats to stability of the national food market, effecti...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5424Plant biotechnology can provide tools to improve the prospects of replacing fossil oil with plant-derived biomass by increasing the amount of biomass produced per unit area of land and improving the composition of the biomass to increase the efficiency of conversion to biofuel and biomaterials, stressed a paper published by the Plant Biotechnology ...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Researchhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5414The Center for Executive Education (CEE), a program of Cornell University and Sathguru, will implement the Global Biosafety Management Program (GBMP) in March 2010 to discuss the contemporary science, management and regulation of genetically engineered product development and delivery. Through a series of interactive lectures, case studies and pane...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Announcementshttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5407The 11th International Symposium on the Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) will be held on 15 November - 20 November 2010 Centro Cultural Borges in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Organized by International Society for Biosafety Research, the symposium has the theme "The role of biosafety research in the decision making process." The sympo...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Announcementshttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5408The Australian Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) has made available a map that shows locations of licenses granted by the Office for genetically modified organism trials. It is available at http://www.maps.ogtr.gov.au/index.html For more information on licenses approved by the Office, visit http://www.ogtr.gov.au/internet/ogtr/publishi...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Document Remindershttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5409Ag Biotech Vietnam and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) have jointly published a manual on the Law and regulatory framework for development and application of modern biotechnology in Vietnam. The publication discusses the current issues of modern biotechnology development, effective regulatory frame...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Document Remindershttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=5421The working paper The Production and Price Impact of Biotech Crops, authored by Graham Brookes, Tun-Hsiang Yu, Simla Tokgoz, and Amani Elobeid discuss about the production effects of the technology and impacts on cereal and oilseed markets through the use of agricultural commodity models. It analyzes the impacts on global production, consumption, t...Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800Document Reminders