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, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800http://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9121The World Economic Forum (WEF), an independent international organization, has mapped out an action agenda in a report Putting the new vision for agriculture into action: A transformation is happening to help national leaders to accelerate and expand collaboration on both global and country levels. The report was prepared by the WEF New Vision for ...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Globalhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9118How to improve durum wheat is the main agenda of researchers from Australia, Italy, and Germany who will meet at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) in Adelaide. Durum wheat is a hard wheat used to make pasta. "Durum wheat is a less reliable crop for Australian and Italian farmers than bread wheat," said Professor Peter Lan...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Globalhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9102Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) announced a 10-year strategic plan for reaching the goal of having 90 percent self-sufficiency of Africa in rice by 2020. According to AfricaRice Director General Dr. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, the plan shows that developing the rice sector can be a driver for economic growth across the continent. If successful, AfricaRice...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Africahttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9104AfricaBio, a non-profit biotechnology stakeholders association, announced the appointment of Dr. Nompumelelo H. Obokoh as its new Chief Executive Officer. Prior to her new appointment, Dr. Obokoh was the head of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) West Africa Office.Dr. Obokoh is a renowned plant molecular biologist with a PhD deg...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Africahttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9101The Brazilian government forecasts crop area to expand from 62 million hectares in 2010/11 to 68 million hectares by 2020/21. Highest growth in area is expected for soybean and sugarcane. The production boom is partly a result of the rapid adoption of biotech seed varieties. According to Celeres Consulting, biotech soybeans accounts for 83 percent ...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9105Bayer CropScience has received registration from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its TwinLink technology for cotton. This new technology combines insect resistance against lepidopteran pests and tolerance to glufosinate-ammonium herbicide. Upon commercialization, TwinLink will be available as a stack with GlyTol, Bayer's glyphosat...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9107Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and partners discovered a single gene that could confer resistance to three important diseases namely, southern corn leaf blight, northern leaf blight, and gray leaf spot. These diseases have been problems of corn producers globally because of its common symptom of forming lesions on leaves. P...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9106Pioneer Hi-Bred announced the release of 17 new hybrids of corn in the 96- to 116-day comparative maturities (CRMs) for drought-stressed environments, thus helping growers match the right hybrid with the right acre. Last year, they released eight Optimum AQUAmax hybrids which yielded an average of 7.1 percent higher in drought conditions and 3.4 pe...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Americashttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9098Malaysian Science and Technology Information Centre (MASTIC) has recently launched the national reference center for science, technology, and innovation (STI) which is known as Knowledge Resource Science and Technology Excellence, Malaysia (KRSTE.my). This knowledge database system was first developed by using local expertise and semantic technolog...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Asia and the Pacifichttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9117Researchers at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) say that field trials of genetically modified barley have had positive results. The first year trials at Corrigin, Western Australia are testing the potential of salt-tolerant varieties. ACPFG researcher Stuart Roy said that in low salt areas, GM barley yielded 20 to 30 per ...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Asia and the Pacifichttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9100The United Kingdom Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) reviewed the evidence for over 700 potential impacts of climate change in a UK context. It published its findings on January 25, 2012, the first assessment of its kind in the UK and the first in a 5-year cycle. Detailed analysis was made of over 100 of these impacts across 11 key sectors base...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9115Scientist Ralph Bock from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology discovered that a transfer of entire chloroplasts or parts of their genomes can occur between plants that are in close proximity. The new chloroplast genome can even be handed down to the next generation and thus give plant new characteristics. The transfer of genes wi...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9116John Innes Center scientist, Dr. Simon Griffiths, received research funds amounting to about £500,000 from the European Commission to seek ways by which wheat can be adapted to survive climate change. The project will focus on flowering time and investigate how differences could be used to produce crops adapted to future effects of climate change. ...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9113Purple sprouting broccoli Santee developed by Bejo Zagen, Netherlands, has been nominated for the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award 2012. Santee has high content of naturally occurring glucosinolates, which are organic compounds associated with reduced risk of cancer. Several tests have proven that Santee could produce high levels of glucosinolates ...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Europehttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9103The progress of breeding drought tolerant maize has been slow because drought tolerance is controlled by many genes. Thus, breeders have been using secondary traits and selection indices to find the best genotype under drought stress. Xavier Mhike of Makere University in Uganda, together with other scientists, conducted a study to assess the reliab...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Researchhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9110Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) is a member of the mustard family that has recently gained interest from researchers because of its high seed oil content with low input requirements. However, just like other crops in the mustard family, it is also highly sensitive to residues of inhibitor herbicides. Thus, Dustin Walsh of Washington State University ...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Researchhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9111Proanthocyanins (PAs) are major compounds present in seed coats, leaves, fruits, flowers, and bark of many plant species. The building blocks of PAs are catechnin and epicatechin, which are antioxidants with several benefits on human health. PAs in forage plants can also help reduce the chances of lethal pasture bloat in ruminants. However, many fo...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Researchhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9080Salmonella strains are notorious for contaminating food and water causing over a billion illnesses and about 500,000 deaths per year globally. Dr. Arthur Thompson and colleagues at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) in the UK mapped the transcriptional start sites (TSSs) where the genes responsible for invasion of cells are switched on and read f...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Beyond Crop Biotechhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9108Scientists at Purdue University are studying the next generation of insecticides for disease-carrying insects. The results of their study could help other researchers who are working on human health, veterinary, and crop production sectors. According to researchers Catherine Hill and Val Watts, vector insects, or insects that carry and transmit inf...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Beyond Crop Biotechhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9109An international team of researchers have sequenced the molecular structure of a protein called restriction enzymes, which is present in many types of bacteria. These molecules control how fast can bacteria acquire resistance to drugs and eventually develop as superbugs. The researchers, which include experts from the University of Edinburgh, Unive...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Beyond Crop Biotechhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9114A new method in yellow biotechnology or insect biotechnology has been employed by scientists in Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany. Ian Baldwin and colleagues study the gene function in moth larvae by manipulating genes using RNA interference technology (RNAi) and plants. They feed the larvae with plants that have been treated with ...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Beyond Crop Biotechhttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9085The International Conference for GM Crops has been moved from November 20-23, 2011 to March 5, 2012 to be held at Cairo University in Egypt. ICGMC aims to provide an international forum to discuss the current role of GM crops and stimulate researchers, industry and government professionals to address challenges of agriculture in Egypt. For more det...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Announcementshttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9120The GMSAFOOD Conference on the theme GMOs safety and post market monitoring will be held on March 6-8, 2012 at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. It will aim at the state-of-the-art approaches to post market monitoring and evaluating the safety of GMOs. The GMSAFOOD consortium, funded by the European Commission, is a collaboration of resear...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Announcementshttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9122The 12th International Stymposium on Biosafety onf Genetically Modified Organisms (ISBGMO12) will be held on September 16-20, 2012 at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis,Missouri, USA. It will aim to provide an opportunity for scientists to discuss the conference theme "Considering Biosafety in the Application of Biotechnology to ...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Announcementshttp://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=9112The meeting report of the 10th Anniversary Transgenic Technologies (TT2011) is now published in the latest issue of Transgenic Research. The meeting held in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA, on October 24-26, 2011 was organized by the International Society for Transgenic Technologies (ISTT). Based on the report, several important issues and advances on...Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0800Document Reminders