biotech news | ORB in the news
Panelists at GMO forum ask consumers to seek out good information
WillametteLive.com, 10 February 2009
The response from a group of four panelists at a forum held recently at the Salem Public Library on genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) seemed unanimous: Be informed. The panel featured David Harry, associate director of Outreach in Biotechnology; Lisa Weasel, author of "Food Fray: Inside the Controversy over Genetically Modified Food" and associate professor of biology at Portland State University; Terry Witt, executive director of Oregonians for Food and Shelter; and Rick North, program director for Oregon's Campaign for Safe Foods Program. Dan Hilburn, administrator of the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Plant Division, moderated the forum.
Technology may be key in solving food crisis caused by climate change and competition for land use
Press Association, 22 January 2009
According to a recent report by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institution of Chemical Engineers, both of the UK, the world is heading for a food crisis caused by climate change and competition for land use, and only technology can guarantee global food sustainability. The report calls for the development of genetically engineered pest and drought resistant crops and nutritionally enhanced crops. Regulations, it says, must be "based on an evaluation of the risk, using sound evidence, and not on a socio-political fear of new technology."
Genetically engineered rice food crops and tobacco biopharm crops have differing costs and benefits
USDA-CSREES, 21 January 2009
A recent study of the costs and benefits of agricultural biotechnology determined that pharmaceutical companies and patent holders would benefit from using tobacco crops for biopharming, but the economic outcome for farmers and the public would be limited, and that the developing world would see a benefit of about $2 billion per year from insect-, drought-, and herbicide-resistant genetically modified rice technologies, while the United States would experience a small net loss. The study was funded by the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and implemented by economists at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
In October 2008, a rulemaking hearing took place to establish a review system for federal permit applications to grow biopharmaceutical crops in Oregon
Plant geneticists talk about the future of crop development
OSU Media Release, 16 September 2008
At a conference held at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood Oregon, geneticists from the US and around the world met for a unique conference about the physiological sculpture of plants. Participants talked about how major advances in the understanding of the genes that influence regulatory pathways in plants might be used to create further advances in plant breeding, biotechnology, and genetic engineering.
"Physiological sculpting means using recombinant technology and our knowledge of molecular plant physiology to design modifications in crops that extend the limits of plant breeding," said Steve Strauss, a professor of forest science at Oregon State University, who organized the conference.
Through genetics, tapping a tree's potential as a source of energy
New York Times, 20 November 2007
Scientists are using genetic engineering to change the composition of wood with the aim of turning trees into new energy sources. Trees that produce less lignin produce more cellulose, making them useful for producing ethanol. Low-lignin GE trees need to be tested under real field conditions. 
"To mess with physiology like this, you really need to get out of the laboratory," said Steven H. Strauss, a professor of forest science at Oregon State University who has conducted field tests of transgenic trees.
Six inch tall tree: Genetic modification used to control height of trees
Science Daily, 19 June 2007
Oregon State University scientists have successfully used GE to tweak tree height, showing that it's possible to create miniature trees that look similar to normal trees. These results open the door to a wide variety of new products for the ornamental and nursery industries, if regulatory hurdles can be overcome.
"From a science perspective, this is a very interesting accomplishment and there's no doubt it could be made to work," said Steven Strauss, a professor of forest science at OSU. "But further development may be precluded by social, legal, and regulatory obstacles..."
Producing ethanol from trees
The Economist, 8 March 2007
The idea is to make ethanol, a renewable biofuel, from trees. "Treethanol" yields much more energy than is needed to produce it.
Steven Strauss, a forest biologist at Oregon State University, says that because of the great genetic variation in willows and poplars, genetic modification may not be necessary. By screening existing varieties, it ought to be possible to identify those well suited to ethanol production. Conventional breeding and cloning are very efficient when there is such a variety of species and hybrids to choose from, he says, and the tight regulation of genetically modified organisms makes using the technology expensive and time consuming.
