January 2014
ISB News Report - January 2014
http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2014/Jan14.pdf
Table of Contents
RISK ASSESSMENT
Insect Resistance to Genetically Engineered Crops: Successes and Failures
Bruce E. Tabashnik, Thierry Brevault and Yves Carriere
Since 1996, farmers worldwide have planted a cumulative total of more than a billion acres of genetically engineered corn and cotton that produce insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Bt proteins, used for decades in sprays by organic farmers, kill some devastating pests but are considered environmentally friendly because they do not harm people and most other non-target organisms. Benefits of Bt crops include fewer insecticide sprays, pest suppression, conservation of beneficial natural enemies, increased yield, and higher farmer profits. However, evolution of resistance to Bt toxins by pests can curtail these benefits.
PLANT RESEARCH
Transglutamination Enables Production and Characterization of Native-sized Spider Silk-ELP Fusion Proteins from Genetically Engineered Plants
Nicola Weichert, Valeska Hauptmann, Udo Conrad
In the last two decades, plants have shown great potential for production of specific heterologous proteins. High cost and inefficient downstream processing are the main technical impediments for the broader use of plant-based production technology, especially for protein-based products. High-performance fibers from recombinant spider silks are a prominent example. Genetically engineered plants have been generated to produce recombinant spider silk derivatives fused with elastin-like peptides (ELP). Layers are produced by casting protein monomers and multimers. The layered multimers formed by mixing lysine- and glutamine-tagged monomers are associated with the highest elastic penetration modulus.
MEETINGS
International Bioenergy Conference
Manchester, UK
March 11-13, 2014
This conference will highlight the latest in advanced bioenergy research and help to build collaborations across research disciplines, including plant scientists, chemists, engineers, social scientists and national facilities.
2nd Plant Genomics Congress
London, UK
May 12-13, 2014
The conference will discuss platforms and technologies suitable for plant based research in aspects such as molecular marker development, crop/trait improvement, breeding, hybridization, conservation, evolution studies and pathology. Presentations concentrate on, but are not limited to, plant, crop and forestry research ranging from wheat, barley, maize and rice to potato, tomato, arabidopsis, spruce and ash.
International scientific workshop: Risk assessment considerations for RNAi-based GM plants
Brussels, Belgium
June 4-5, 2014
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is organising a scientific workshop on RNA interference (RNAi) based genetically modified (GM) plants on 4-5 June 2014 in Brussels, Belgium. The objectives of this workshop are to discuss: (1) RNAi mechanisms in plants, mammals and invertebrates; (2) current and future RNAi applications in GM plants; and (3) risk assessment approaches for such plants.
Topics
Species
