Bill and Melinda Gates are giving a boost to BioCassava Plus too

from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation webpage on BioCassava PlusBioCassava PlusThe NeedCassava is central to the diets of more than 250 million people in Africa. Though rich in calories, it offers limited nutritional value. As a result, many people who rely…

Golden Rice’s true colours shine through at the Gates Foundation

From the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation webpage: a page with truly hopeful sparkleGolden RiceThe NeedRice is the staple food crop for more than half of the world’s population, and is especially important in Asia. While it is ample in calories, it…

Current science for improving water stress resilience in plants

Two brief introductions about how to overcome stress damage in crops have appeared in this months ISB April 2011 newsletter, coming out of Virginia Polytech.They cover manipulation of leaf pore (stomata)  density and better triggering of plant stress responses:Regulation of…

Biofortification of cassava makes real progress thanks to SNP detection methods

A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in a Phytoene Synthase Gene can Simplify Provitamin A Biofortification of CassavaRalf WelschISB NEWS REPORT MARCH 2011The need for biofortification of staple cropsMillions of poor people rely on staples to meet their daily calorie requirements. The…

American-Australian breeding companies collaborate on wheat biotechnology

26 August 2010INTERGRAIN AND MONSANTO ANNOUNCE NEW WHEAT BREEDING COLLABORATIONPress ReleaseMonsanto and IntergrainMonsanto to share technology, germplasm with Australian breeding leader; makes equity investmentInterGrain Pty Ltd and Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) today announced a technology collaboration agreement expected to lead…