February 2011

Table of Contents

RISK ASSESSMENT RESEARCH

Long-term Introgression of Crop Alleles in Weed Populations
Allison A. Snow and Lesley G. Campbell
Starting about twenty years ago, the pace of research on crops that hybridize with weedy relatives really took off. Over the years, researchers have debated whether or not crop alleles are likely to survive in the wild, with some arguing that low hybrid fitness and/or linkage to maladaptive domestication traits could severely hamper crop allele persistence. Now, mounting evidence shows that many crop-weed-wild gene pools are not discrete, but frequently mix and overlap as inter-breeding hybrid populations.

Pest Control with Bt Cotton and Sterile Insect Releases
Bruce E. Tabashnik
The pink bollworm is a major pest of cotton in the southwestern U.S. and in many other countries. A large collaborative team has developed and deployed a multitactic eradication program in Arizona, using sterile insect releases instead of refuges to delay pink bollworm resistance to Bt cotton. Pink bollworm populations in Arizona have declined dramatically since the eradication program began in 2006. The ultimate objective of the pink bollworm eradication program is to eliminate this pest from all cotton-growing regions of the U.S. and adjacent areas of northern Mexico.

New Guidance Document for the Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) of Genetically Engineered Plants issued by the GMO Panel of the European Food Safety Authority
Detlef Bartsch
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was created as a European Union-wide risk assessment body in January 2002. By providing 'independent, objective and transparent' science-based advice, EFSA aims to ensure a high level of consumer protection and to restore and maintain confidence in the food supply. Since the early 1990s, a legal framework has been in place that regulates the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the European Union (EU). One role of the EFSA is to independently assess and provide scientific advice to risk managers on any possible risks of GMOs to human and animal health and the environment.

REGULATORY NEWS

PTO Board Cottons to One Patent, While a Court Interferes With Another
Phill Jones
In September 2010, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued an update to its obviousness guidelines for the use of PTO examiners. Under US patent law, patent claims must not cover an invention that is already known; that is, the claimed invention must be novel. The claimed invention also must not be an obvious variation of a known invention. As the guidelines point out, one approach to condemning a claimed invention as obvious is the "obvious to try" rationale.
 

Website: http://www.isb.vt.edu

Published: February 11, 2011