St. Louis, Missouri
Jan. 5, 2009
The
Donald Danforth Plant
Science Center was recently awarded a $5.4 million grant
from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the Grand
Challenges in Global Health initiative which seeks to identify
and direct funds to the most critical scientific challenges in
global health. Funds will be used to create and manage a
BioSafety Resource Network (BRN) to support four project teams
conducting research under Grand Challenge #9 (GC9) which focuses
on the use of appropriate technologies to increase nutrients in
local crops in a socially and culturally acceptable way. Results
of this research will ultimately be shared with developing
countries throughout the world where malnutrition is prevalent.
The BioSafety Resource Network will be managed by Dr. Paul
Anderson, executive director of International Programs at the
Danforth Center. He will be assisted by Dr. Hector Quemada,
(Calvin College, MI) who will serve as project director and Dr.
Mark Halsey – formerly research Director at the United Soybean
Board – who will serve as assistant director. Drs. Quemada and
Halsey have many years of experience in biosafety and regulatory
science related to genetically modified crops.
Reducing death and disease related to malnutrition and infection
caused by nutrient poor diets depends on giving farmers access
to more nutritious crops so they can build healthier lives for
themselves and their families. The GC9 projects work to provide
combinations of micronutrients, vitamins and essential amino
acids in a bioavailable form in local crops such as rice,
sorghum, cassava and bananas, or to enhance energy density and
improve protein quality in such foods. Farmers would only have
the opportunity to grow GC9 biofortified crops to feed their
families or sell in markets after a rigorous process of
research, testing, product development and regulatory approval.
Efficacy, safety and regulatory concerns must be thoroughly and
systematically addressed for each crop. The goal of the BRN is
to ensure that research projects address quality assurance,
biosafety science and regulatory science requirements.
“Success with this new initiative will provide a blueprint for
other institutions and companies seeking to introduce
nutritionally enhanced crops in the countries that will most
benefit from approving and growing them,” said Anderson. “We
hope to position the Danforth Center as the ‘go to’ institution
for plant biosafety capabilities as it relates to product
development.”
The Danforth Center has already built significant collaborative
relationships and regulatory capacity in Africa through
partnerships with such groups as the Kenyan Agricultural
Research Institute (KARI), the International Institute for
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria, the National Root Crop
Research Institute (NRCRI) in Nigeria, and the National
Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) in Uganda.
The Danforth Center is a founding member of the Program for
Biosafety Systems (PBS), a partnership program sponsored by the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which seeks
to assist developing countries by enhancing biosafety policy,
research, and capacity.
The BRN will also oversee the systematic transfer of experience
and services through the GC9 projects to scientific personnel
and institutions thus building local and regional regulatory
infrastructure. The BRN will conduct a thorough, preliminary
biosafety assessment of all traits intended to be expressed in
the crops, formulate a regulatory strategy and work plan for
each trait-crop combination and provide support in the planning
and implementation of confined field trials.
Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is
a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve
the human condition through plant science. Research at the
Danforth Center will feed the hungry and improve human health,
preserve and renew the environment, and enhance the St. Louis
region and Missouri as a world center for plant science. Please
visit
www.danforthcenter.org for additional information. |
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