There has
been an explosion of advanced genetic techniques and technologies, holding
promise that plant breeders will be able to make multiple advances, not just
one genetic trait at a time.
Michael
Kahn, chairman of the North American Biotechnology Council, is inviting
scientists to the 28th annual conference in Washington State to discuss those advances.
He writes in
the council’s newsletter that "powerful new versions of classical genetic
techniques fueled by new methods that generate and manipulate huge amounts of
data are radically altering our ability to genetically modify plants, animals
and microorganisms.
“Ultimately,
integration of this information (huge data bases about genetics and the
physical appearance of crops and animals) can be used to guide breeding
strategies in order to yield plants and animals with multiple desired traits,
including improved quality, yield, disease resistance and nutrition,” he
writes.
“Combinations
of these technologies are lending much more precision in gene discovery, and
the meeting will discuss the agricultural implications of this sort of advanced
classical genetics■”
The meeting is June 1 and 2 at Washington State
University, at Pullman, Washington.
