Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
April 2010
Source: http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2010/Apr10.pdf
Table of Contents
RISK ASSESSMENT
Modeling Pollen-Mediated Gene Flow in Rice: Implications for Assessing and Managing Transgene Escape
Bao-Rong Lu
Demand for high-yielding and efficient rice production and rapid progress in transgenic biotechnology have prompted genetically engineered (GE) rice research and development. Forthcoming extensive environmental releases and commercial production of GE rice have already aroused tremendous biosafety concerns worldwide. Among these concerns are transgene escape through pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF) from GE rice varieties to non-GE rice and wild relatives and their potential (undesirable) environmental impacts. Such biosafety concerns caused by transgene flow should be fully addressed with supporting and solid data, based on rigid scientific methodologies. A PMGF model can be used to accurately predict the frequency of transgene outflow under different circumstances and hence be valuable for designing appropriate control measures to minimize the frequency of transgene flow. Our study combined a mathematical tool and experimental data to achieve a PMGF model f! or rice.
BUSINESS NEWS
Barriers to Marketing GE Crops
Janaki Krishna
Caius M. Rommens, from J. R. Simplot Company USA, recently published a review in which he highlights seven likely barriers to the entry of GE crops into markets, and offers an explanation for the gap between research and development. The barriers he outlines are (1) trait efficacy, (2) critical product concepts, (3) freedom to operate, (4) industry support, (5) identity preservation and stewardship, (6) regulatory approval, and (7) retail and consumer acceptance.
REGULATORY NEWS
Patent Rights and Patent Wrongs?
Phill Jones
While collaborations between universities and businesses yield mutually beneficial results, they can also create a tangle of patent rights. Sometimes, a party's rights can vanish with a signature, leaving only a costly mirage. Stanford v. Roche is one such cautionary tale.
For decades, the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted patents on nucleic acid molecules that encode gene products. In doing so, has the USPTO performed unconstitutional acts and violated US patent law?
Is the Suspension of MON810 Maize Cultivation by Some European Countries Scientifically Justified?
Agnes E. Ricroch, Jean Baptiste Berge and Marcel Kuntz
MON810 is a transgenic trait introgressed into a number of maize varieties, consisting of a Bacillus thuringiensis-derived gene (Bt), or more precisely, a truncated cry1Ab gene encoding an insecticidal protein for control of some lepidopteran pest insects such as Ostrinia nubilalis, the European maize borer. We examined the justifications invoked by the German government in April 2009, and the previous year by the French government, to suspend the cultivation of these genetically modified maize varieties.
EVENTS
Sustainability through Agricultural Biotechnology Food, Biomaterials, Energy and Environment
12th World Congress of the International Association for Plant Biotechnology (IAPB)
June 6 - 11, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
The Congress is being held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB). With an emphasis on the fundamental and applied aspects of sustainability through agriculture, topics will focus on food, biomaterials, energy and the environment.
Topics
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