PARTIAL TABLE OF CONTENTS, relevant to seed professionals (links are to the ISB News Report website)

RISK ASSESSMENT

Field evidence: Bt corn and mycotoxin reduction
Felicia Wu

One indirect benefit from Bt corn adoption is lower levels of mycotoxin contamination. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi that colonize crops. Any method that reduces insect damage in corn also reduces the risk of fungal contamination. Indeed, in a variety of field studies, Bt corn has been shown to have significantly lower levels of common mycotoxins, the subject of which is reviewed in this article.

Complete article:
pdf: http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2008/artspdf/feb0801.pdf
web: http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2008/news08.feb.htm#feb0801

PLANT RESEARCH NEWS

Enhancing plant carotenoids via manipulation of sink strength
Xiangjun Zhou & Li Libr

Carotenoids provide essential phytonutrients, such as provitamin A, and confer many health benefits, such as reducing the incidence of certain diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and age-related eye diseases. Therefore developing carotenoid enriched food may offer a sustainable avenue for improving human nutrition and health.

Complete article:
pdf: http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2008/artspdf/feb0802.pdf
web: http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2008/news08.feb.htm#feb0802 

REGULATORY NEWS

Supreme Court consigns the Monsanto–McFarling litigation to rest in peace
Phill Jones

On January 7, the US Supreme Court announced that it would not take up an appeal in McFarling v. Monsanto. The Court might well have pulled the plug on a dispute that has shuttled up and down the federal court system for eight years.

Complete article:
pdf: http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2008/artspdf/feb0803.pdf
web: http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2008/news08.feb.htm#feb0803

The entire news report is available at http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2008/Feb08.pdf