Biotech Updates

DNA Fingerprinting for Malting Barley Improvement

January 7, 2011

Malting barley is the raw material in the production of Scotland's Scotch Whisky, the second most productive industry in the country, second only to oil, at £3.9bn GVA (gross value added) in 2008. Scientists of the Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee have developed a molecular marker technology to DNA fingerprint different barley varieties.

Through the molecular marker technology, different barley types have been identified for yield and quality, for growing and processing, and for important traits that would assure long term sustainability of the distilling industry. With the enormous amount of data, the scientists have developed their own DNA fingerprint database that allows efficient storage, evaluation of the information, and efficient sharing of knowledge to partners and researchers around the world.

For more on this news, see the original article at http://www.knowledgescotland.org/news.php?article_id=236