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The Agbiotech Bulletin
Volume 4 Issue 6 June 1996

Published by AG-WEST BIOTECH INC.


Code Number: NL96015
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AgBiotech: Foundation for the Future

Saskatoon, Canada Participants from around the globe have assembled in Saskatoon for North America's first major international symposium dedicated exclusively to the world's agricultural biotechnology industry.

'Growth in the agbiotech industry has exploded in Canada and around the world,' says Conference Chair Murray McLaughlin, founding President of Saskatoon's Ag-West Biotech and Saskatchewan's Deputy Minister of Agriculture. 'The diversity of agbiotech research now being done made it impossible to continue to cover our complete industry within the context of existing multi-disciplinary biotech conferences.'

In response, the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference, dubbed ABIC '96, was created as a joint venture of Canada's Department of Western Economic Diversification, the Canadian Institute of Biotechnology, Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, and Ag-West Biotech Inc. In total, 40 major corporate and institutional sponsors were involved in staging the event, demonstrating the broad support for the agbiotech industry in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and Western Canada.

Ninety-two expert speakers from 17 countries have come to Saskatoon to address some 600 delegates from June 11-14, 1996 on a wide range of agbiotech issues from leading edge research through commercialization. Organized in five concurrent streams Animal Science; Crop Development; Microbials; Technology Transfer; and Business each presentations will address the overarching theme running through the four-day conference and two-day exhibition, 'AgBiotech: Foundation for the Future.'

Biotech Key to a Prosperous, Sustainable Agriculture, Says ABIC's Keynote Speaker

The world's burgeoning population poses a staggering problem for the agriculture industry: How can it produce enough food in a profitable and socially acceptable way without irreversibly destroying the natural environment?

This is the fundamental question facing the key players in the world's agbiotech community who have assembled in Saskatoon for ABIC '96. The question was articulated in the opening address to the conference by Dr. Jeff Schell of the Max Planck Institute of Cologne, Germany.

Biotechnology is a key to resolving this question, Dr. Schell asserted. 'The agriculture industry will have to urgently develop and intelligently exploit biotech's powerful methods if agriculture is to produce the food, energy, and feed- stocks required by a rapidly expanding human population.'

Dr. Schell is well-known in the agbiotech field for his work in molecular biology and genetic engineering in plants. He played a key role in the elucidation of the molecular basis of crown- gall formation on plants by Agrobacterium tumefaciens and coined the concept of 'genetic colonization' to describe this phenomenon. In addition to his role as Director of the Department of Genetic Principles of Plant Breeding at Max Planck, he is also Professor of Plant Molecular Biology at the College de France, Paris.

In reviewing the current state of biotechnology for ABIC '96, Schell noted that methods are well developed to introduce well defined single genes or defined combinations of genes in plants. 'In principle the heritable properties of all plants can therefore be better adapted to agricultural, industrial, and environmental needs by the use of these molecular methods. The biological source of the genetic information that can thus be introduced in plants is not limited to genetic traits derived from closely related species. Indeed research in the molecular biology of plants allows any genetic trait, whether from other plants or from bacteria, yeasts, fungi or animals to be transferred and expressed in plants and to be transmitted to the progeny through seeds.'

Biotechnology Essentially Safe

Schell stressed that the introduction of single, well defined genes in crops can be achieved without necessarily modifying their general biological properties in an unexpected or uncontrollable way. 'Because of this aspect plant breeding by genetic engineering must be considered to have a very high degree of ecological predictability and therefore safety, and the release of well characterized and tested transgenic plants can therefore in no way be compared to the release of whole foreign organisms in a new ecological context.'

Biotechnologies have been used successfully to produce plants that are naturally resistant to viral diseases or to attack by insects. Schell said that research is in progress to similarly develop plants resistant to bacterial and fungal diseases, to attack by nematodes, and also to climatic and environmental stresses such as drought, cold, and toxic chemicals.

'Present research is also likely to lead to the production of plants with increased nutritional value or with modified growth habits,' Schell adds. 'Finally plants could be produced with high yields of tailor made feed stocks (oils, carbohydrates, proteins) or producing highly valuable chemicals such as pharmaceutical products or biodegradable plastics.'

Based on the experience gained from a large number of controlled field experiments with transgenic plants, one must conclude that genetically-modified plants will not pose any unforeseen ecological problems and have the potential to drastically improve the environmental impact and productivity of agriculture.

Presently Schell and his collaborators at the Max Planck Institute are using molecular and gene transfer techniques to elucidate the mechanism of action of genes involved in the control of growth, development, and differentiation in plants.

Crop Development Stream

The rich Crop Development Stream at ABIC '96 features 19 outstanding speakers from eight countries. Topics range from transgenics in cereals, Brassicas, and legumes; insect and disease resistance; the modification of vegetable oils and fats; and the production of enzymes and medicinals in plants. The following summary of Dr. Maurice Moloney's presentation is typical of the high quality of papers presented in this stream.

Molecular Farming Yields Novel Products from Canola

Dr. Maurice Moloney, formerly a principal scientist at Calgene Inc. in Davis, California, is currently full professor at the University of Calgary, where he holds the NSERC/DowElanco Chair in Plant Biotechnology.

'Genetic modification of plants by gene transfer is enabling us to broaden dramatically the range of products available from plants,' according to Dr. Maurice Moloney of the University of Calgary. Speaking to the Crop Development Stream at ABIC '96, Moloney described current transgenic research activity on Canola and related species activity which is beginning to yield valuable new products.

Moloney says that it is now possible to 'persuade' Canola to accumulate alternative products using gene transfer. 'Production of these novel molecules by genetically modified plants has become known as molecular farming'.'

Moloney has been involved in developing molecular farming since the early 1980s. He was principal scientist at Calgene Inc. in Davis, California from 1982 to 1986. During that time, Moloney and his colleagues performed the first successful transformation experiments on Brassica napus (canola), for which two US patents have been awarded. In 1986, Moloney moved to the University of Calgary. In 1994 he founded SemBioSys Genetics Inc., a plant protein manufacturing company.

In describing the potential of molecular farming, Moloney said that a leading-edge research initiative involves persuading plants to produce useful, but decidedly non-plant products. An example of this is the production of a biodegradable plastic such as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) in plants.

'PHB is a biopolymer produced in certain bacteria. PHB production requires the intervention of three enzymes. Plants lack these enzymes, but the bacterial genes specifying these biochemical conversions have been expressed in plants. The result is that a significant amount of carbon metabolism is re-routed into the production of PHB.'

'One of the main factors limiting the wide use of PHB polymers as an environmentally benign plastic is cost of production in microorganisms,' comments Moloney. 'Production in plants could address this problem and render PHB an economically viable material for production of milk containers, plastic bags, and a variety of disposable packaging.'

At the most esoteric end of the scale, plants such as Canola are ideal vehicles for the production of proteins and peptides of pharmaceutical interest. Examples of such biologically active proteins being produced in Canola include the leech-derived, blood anti-coagulant, hirudin. Transgenic Canola or related Brassica species are amenable to such genetic modifications and could prove to be ideal vehicles from the viewpoint of processing.

Extracting Enhanced-Value Proteins from Plants

Although plants are relatively inexpensive to cultivate (two to three hundred dollars per tonne in the case of Canola seed) the costs of extracting and purifying novel products can be a very significant factor in the overall process, according to Moloney.

As plants must compete with other methods for production of proteins and peptides, in particular with fermentation technology, it is critical that costs are minimized. 'In our laboratories, we have developed procedures that address the key question of separation and purification using the natural partitioning of oil and water phases in oilseed extracts.'

Use of Canola and its relatives in molecular farming

Because Canola is a food crop, Moloney believes the best applications of biotechnology to the crop will be related to food and feed markets. Most prominent among these applications are improved feed meal, modified edible oils, and food processing enzymes that are already part of the food chain. Feed meal for monogastric animals could be greatly improved by expressing protein supplements rich in essential amino acids in the meal fraction. Novel strategies with this objective include the expression of ruminant digestive enzymes in seeds destined for feed meal. 'These benign enzymes would assist in the digestibility of the meal for hogs and chickens, particularly in rendering fibre more digestible or releasing sequestered phosphate.'

To produce high-value pharmaceutical proteins, Moloney contends that 'it will be advisable to perform these experiments in a related species such as Brassica carinata, Sinapis alba, or Eruca sativa. In these species, cultivation is very similar to Canola from the producer's viewpoint, but the plants are sexually isolated from conventional Canola. This strategy has already been tried successfully with Brassica carinata.

Precautions such as genetic and physical isolation of some of these applications will ensure that in both reality and perception, Canola will be exclusively a food crop, while other applications can be adequately handled in a variety of species which share much of the biology learned from studies in Canola.

Continuing Success in Canola Industry Requires Collaboration

While conventional Canola production for the last ten years has been steadily increasing in response to increased demand, Moloney believes it is probable that in North America acreage planted will begin to level out.

'However, gene transfer methods have now opened several new avenues for increasing the unit value of Canola products and for diversifying the range of products possible. This diversification could work to the great benefit of producers and processors. However, taking full advantage of these opportunities will require new relationships between producers, processors, technologists and plant breeders.'

Moloney stresses the importance of such concepts such as identity preservation, smaller scale specialty crushing operations, and vertical integration of crop production, and end- product manufacturing. 'A solid and efficient commodity Canola industry, combined with delivery of specialty products derived from Canola or its relatives, will be a profitable symbiosis for the industry as we prepare for the 21st century.'

Animal Science Stream

Whether it's novel vaccines, improved feed efficiency, or enhanced reproduction, biotechnologies are revolutionizing animal agriculture. The Animal Science stream at ABIC '96 brings together 20 leading animal scientists from six countries to guide participants through the latest agbiotech achievements and opportunities. Summaries of two of the outstanding presentations are provided in this issue.

Applications of Biotechnology in Farmed Animals

Dr. Grant Montgomery is Senior Scientist with the AgResearch Molecular Biology Unit, University of Otago in New Zealand. Montgomery has published extensively on aspects of reproduction and sheep genomics. He is also an editor of SheepBase, the sheep genetic map available on the World Wide Web.

The animal industry, like most economic sectors, is experiencing rapid change. Developments in genetic selection, disease control, reproductive technologies, nutrition, and improved management have markedly increased production of traditional products.

The increase in intensive production has, however, generated a number of problems. Threats exist, particularly in the areas of disease control, environmental protection, product safety, the reduction of subsidies, climate change, and ozone depletion. To meet these demands and remain competitive, the animal industries must make further production efficiencies, implement sustainable production systems, and develop new safe products for food, medicine, and industry.

'Biotechnology offers considerable opportunities to meet these challenges,' reports Dr. Grant Montgomery in his presentation to the Animal Science Stream at ABIC '96. Montgomery is Senior Scientist with the AgResearch Molecular Biology Unit, University of Otago in New Zealand. His studies of sheep reproduction have led to a greater understanding of the control of seasonal breeding, as well as fertility characteristics and genetic mapping. Montgomery has published extensively on aspects of reproduction and sheep genomics. He is also an editor of SheepBase, the sheep genetic map developed in New Zealand and available on the World Wide Web.

'Biotechnology can be applied to all areas of the production system,' says Montgomery, 'including genetic selection, nutrition, animal health and welfare, product development, and waste management. In many cases, the developments are linked to parallel developments in molecular biology and genetics.' In his presentation, Montgomery led his audience through a concise overview of the state of the art in each of these aspects of the animal industry, including genetic mapping.

In the last decade, molecular analysis has been applied to livestock species to study genome organization. Genetic linkage maps have been constructed for all the major species and used to identify genes affecting production.

'In our laboratory,' Montgomery said, 'we have employed these methods for the analysis of the sheep genome. The first application of the maps in sheep has been the location of single gene traits known to influence production.' Another area of study relates to the pathways controlling reproduction and may lead to new products for fertility control.

Montgomery also described the suggested uses of transgenics, including enhanced production through extra gene copies or addition of gene pathways, addition of genes for disease resistance, improved nutrient supply or utilization, and the development of products for medical applications.

Biotechnology already makes major contributions to livestock production through improved feeds and feeding systems, said Dr. Montgomery. 'Digestion and the availability of specific nutrients can be modified by supplementation with a number of enzymes. Alternative approaches to improving nutrient availability include transgenic manipulations of micro-organisms, plants and animals.'

Montgomery was one of several speakers to deal with biotech developments in the aquaculture industry. 'The aquaculture industry is expanding rapidly,' he said. 'This is the result of developments in technology and declining fish stocks in many fisheries. Fish are especially suitable for transgenic study because most species generate large numbers of eggs that are fertilized externally. Transgenic methods being applied in fish include disease resistance, sexual maturation, increased growth rate and feed utilization.'

Animal Biotechnology: Improving the Environment

Dr. Seerp Tamminga is Head of the Department of Animal Nutrition at the Agricultural University in Wageningen, The Netherlands and Chairman of the Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences.

Dr. Seerp Tamminga , Chairman of the Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences in The Netherlands, addressed ABIC '96 on another revolutionary aspect of animal biotechnology: its potential to improve the environment.

'In many parts of the world,' says Tamminga, 'a dense human population coincides with a high animal density, resulting in an intensification in waste production. This is often associated with a growing pressure on the environment, resulting from an increased input of fossil energy and the accumulation or leakage of elements like nitrogen and phosphorus not to mention greenhouse gases.'

Tamminga's presentation raised the question, 'What is the role of biotechnology in reversing these trends?' One of the chief ways to accomplish this reversal is to use biotechnologies to improve the efficiency of animal feeding, either by improving the animal feed or by modifying the animals themselves.

Remedies considered

Improving animal feeding systems conserves carbon (energy) and reduces the leakage of nitrogen and phosphorus from livestock systems, capturing potential sources of pollutants as enhanced elements of nutrition.

Tamminga commented that the partition of carbon in the energy containing nutrients in feed between animal products and waste is under genetic control by the animal. It is also influenced by the quantity and nature of energy in the feed.

'A significant part of carbon in nutrients, varying from 20 per cent in a high producing dairy cow to 100 per cent in a non- growing, non-lactating animal, is lost in maintaining the animal. Some 90 per cent of the carbon used for maintenance is in lipids and carbohydrates, the remaining 10 per cent in protein. Measures which reduce the ratio in which nutrients are used in maintenance versus production i.e. increase production per animal, are often considered beneficial to the environment.

'This approach is however too simple,' said Tamminga. 'Increased production is possible by an increased intake of the same quality feed, by the same intake of an increased quality feed, or by an increased efficiency of utilization of the ingested feed. An improved feed quality often requires an increased input of fossil energy in the preparation of the feed.'

'The partition of energy between various sites of deposition or excretion is primarily under genetic control, but increasing the supply of nutrients also shifts the partition between mammary gland and body reserves in lactating animals, and between protein and fat in growing animals towards body reserves and fat.'

'Biotechnology has potential to improve the genetic merit for production and disease resistance in farm animals and probably in a way more marked and quicker than through traditional breeding programmes. Biotechnology also plays an important role in reproductive efficiency. Developments in the field of fermentation technology have become increasingly important in the production of biologically active substances, with potential to improve efficiency of utilization.'

Prospects of biotechnology in breeding, reproduction and disease resistance have received much attention in recent years, says Tamminga. 'If progress in these area's leads to higher productions per animal and improved health status, or less removal from the production system before reaching the status of final product, a lower input can produce the same output, or a higher output will result from the same input. The amount of waste produced per unit of output will be lowered in both situations, and the environmental burden will be relieved.'

Microbials Stream

ABIC '96 includes one of the most comprehensive forums ever to examine the use of microbial technology. Twenty-two experts from six countries present their latest findings in areas such as the exploitation of bacteria used both in the development of transgenic crops and in the control of weeds in cereal crops; the use of viruses to control insects in horticultural and field crops; and the commercialization of biological pest control agents. Two of the many excellent papers are summarized here.

Commercializing Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria

Dr. Joseph Kloepper is Professor and Department Head of Plant Pathology at Auburn University in Alabama. His presentation is titled 'Commercializing Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria.'

Participants in the ABIC '96 Microbial Stream learned that certain rhizobacteria (root-zone bacteria) are known as Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) because they exhibit a beneficial effect on plant development . Dr. Joseph Kloepper of Auburn University in Alabama outlined the benefits and commercialization potential of leading edge PGPR technology to participants in ABIC's Microbials Stream.

Benefits of PGPR on crops involve plant growth promotion and biological disease control, said Kloepper . 'It is often difficult to separate precisely the involvement of disease control and plant growth promotion in field trials, and both attributes are desirable for practical use of PGPR as commercial products.'

Plant growth promotion effects which have been documented with PGPR strains were summarized by Kloepper as enhancement of seedling emergence rate, especially under cool-soil conditions; increased seedling vigor; enhanced root length and branching early in the season; and yield increases. 'With biological disease control, PGPR in general have shown broad applicability for reducing the incidence or severity of many different diseases. However, specific strains of PGPR generally control only one or two diseases. Most biocontrol work with PGPR has focused on soilborne plant pathogens.

Kloepper reported that the host list of PGPR, or the plants which can benefit from inoculation with PGPR strains, is quite broad. Initial PGPR work concentrated on root crops such as potato, sugar beet, and radish, but now almost all major crops have been found to be amenable to PGPR-mediated growth promotion or biological control. In addition, there are several reports with the use of multiple vegetables and forestry species as hosts of PGPR.

'Given the large number of bacterial taxa which may include PGPR and the large host range, it is not surprising that there have been intensive efforts to commercialize PGPR for practical use in agriculture,' said Kloepper. 'Several commercial products consisting of PGPR are now marketed around the world.'

In the US., a strain of Bacillus subtilis has been commercialized for promotion of roots and protection against seedling diseases on cotton and common bean. In China, PGPR are known as YIB, for yield-increasing bacteria. Kloepper reported that YIB have been marketed since 1985, and they are now used on an estimated 3.35 million hectares on 48 different crops. All of the YIB marketed in China are species of Bacillus, and they are produced at eight fermentation plants located throughout the country.

Since 1991, it has been recognized that PGPR may lead to biological control through direct effects on the plant. In this case, termed induced systemic resistance (ISR), PGPR stimulate host defense systems such that subsequently invading pathogens cause reduced disease. PGPR-mediated ISR has now been shown on cucumber, tobacco, bean, and tomato.

A key attribute of ISR which makes it appealing from a commercial viewpoint is that it leads to protection against multiple pathogens. Kloepper stressed that the discovery that single bacterial treatments may protect plants against multiple pathogens and even insects further demonstrates the potential role of PGPR products in sustainable agriculture.

Biocontrol Found Effective for Fungal Diseases

Dr. Jennifer Parke is with the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of the Wisconsin in Madison. Dr. Parke has developed a research program on rhizosphere ecology and biocontrol of fungal plant pathogens of vegetables.

Biological control through the use of applied microbes is an appealing strategy for controlling food crop diseases, according to Dr. Jennifer Parke of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, a featured speaker to the Microbials Stream at ABIC '96.

'From a commercial standpoint in the US.,' says Parke, 'biologicals offer companies opportunities for more rap id product development and registration at a cost much less than for chemical pesticides. Of the 40 pesticides registered by the US. Environmental Protection Agency in 1995, fully half were biologicals, many of these microbial.

In Parke's view, vegetable and specialty crops are especially good commodities for application of biocontrol strategies because of their high crop value, the efficacy of biocontrol agents against diseases not controlled otherwise by conventional means, and because of increased pressure to reduce pesticide use due to consumer awareness of food and environmental safety issues.

'Most diseases of vegetable and specialty crops are caused by fungi. Several biological control agents available commercially are targeted against soilborne and foliar fungal diseases of vegetable and specialty crops.' Parke's research served as an example of how biocontrol research, including pitfalls and successes, can progress from initial discovery, growth chamber studies, field testing and laboratory studies, toward development of a commercial product.

'Our research on biocontrol of vegetable crop diseases initially focused on Aphanomyces root rot of pea, the most serious disease of peas in the US. There are no chemical pesticides commercially available for c ontrolling this disease, nor are there commercial pea varieties resistant to Aphanomyces.

'To obtain potential biocontrol candidates, we collected several hundred strains of bacteria from healthy pea roots growing in field soils naturally infested with Aphanomyces. Individual strains were then screened in pea seedling bioassays for their ability to suppress disease. Two bacterial strains were chosen for further research.'

Parke's field studies show that treatment of pea seeds with the bacteria results in significantly greater plant stands, reduced disease severity, and increased yield compared to seeds without bacteria. Pea yield of seeds treated with the biocontrol agents is significantly greater than for seeds treated with captan, a fungicide applied commercially to pea seeds.

The development of suitable formulations and application strategies is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to commercial development of biocontrol agents. Formulations must be compatible with agricultural practices, must be effectiv e, and must be economically feasible. Currently, formulations of pseudomonad biocontrol agents include peat-based inoculum, frozen concentrates, liquid concentrates, and freeze-dried powders. Initial field results suggest that freeze-dried powders of our strains can be very effective when diluted with water and applied as a spray.

Parke reported that two biocontrol strains developed at her labs have been patented and the technology licensed. 'We are anticipating approval of an Experimental Use Permit in 1996 and expect full registration and commercial product to be available in 1997.'

Technology Transfer Stream

Discussions within the Technology Transfer stream at ABIC '96 focus on three key areas: technology transfer from universities/institutions to industry; international transfer of agbiotech to developing countries; and the response of international programs to the needs of developing countries. Twelve speakers from seven countries are featured. Summaries of two of their presentation are included here.

The Private Sector and Biotech Transfer to Developing Countries

Dr. Anatole Krattiger is a plant breeder and geneticist. He worked in the biotech sciences for CIMMYT in Mexico prior to becoming Executive Director of International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) at Cornell University.

Ensuring an adequate food supply, produced within sustainable agricultural systems, will be a forbiddingly difficult challenge in the years ahead particularly, for developing countries.

Quantum leaps in agricultural production by more sustainable use of natural resources are required to feed the burgeoning population. 'Traditional technology has made impressive gains,' said Dr. Anatole Krattiger, speaking to the Technology Transfer Stream at ABIC '96, 'but it will have to be supplemented by modern biotechnology applications to meet the forbidding food challenge of the 21st century.'

Krattiger, Executive Director of International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (IS AAA) at Cornell University was a farmer before becoming an agronomist, plant breeder and geneticist. He stated that over the next decade approximately 80 per cent of increased food production will have to come from increased productivity per unit of land. There are numerous ways by which agricultural productivity may be raised in a sustainable way, according to Krattiger, however, 'biotechnology probably holds the greatest promise to augment conventional agricultural research and practices particularly given the need to increase production sustainably.'

Biotech and the developing world

In developing nations, improved food technology is the best strategy for generating wealth and increasing disposable income, which in turn leads to a better quality of life. Yet the majority of biotechnology R&D investments is in the private sector in developed nations with the consequence that most applications are proprietary and not accessible to developing countries.

Developing countries would like to access agricultural biotechnology applications, particularly recombinant products, but can't. Similarly, private sector corporations wish to test, share and market recombinant products in developing countries but are precluded from doing so.

Several key factors mitigate again st the transfer of biotechnology to developing countries, according to Krattiger. 'Biotechnology R&D is expensive to undertake. Consequently almost all of the current R&D in biotechnology is conducted in the industrial world and aimed at these countries. In addition, no consensus exists between industrial and developing countries on a policy for utilizing the primary genetic resources that are mainly in developing countries.'

ISAAA: Case Study of Private Sector Biotechnology Transfer

Krattiger said that pragmatic programs are needed to create opportunities for the developing countries to access biotechnology applications. 'ISAAA offers a pragmatic program that can turn the lose-lose situation into a win-win situation; it acknowledges that reasonable profit/return provides motivation and incentive for both farmers/national programs and the private sector.

'The first pilot stage of ISAAA's program involves donation of technology to test and demonstrate its capability and to build scientific conviction and political will. This is achieved by building institutional capacity in biotech R&D as well as regulatory development, including biosafety, food safety, intellectual property rights, and the management of Bt gene deployment.'

Krattiger says that the major obje ctive of ISAAA is to offer an institutional mechanism which will allow the potential contribution of proprietary biotechnology applications to be tested by developing countries themselves, and ultimately to facilitate the transfer of biotechnology between the North and South.

Technology Transfer: Needs and Opportunities in Southeast Asia

Dr. Cohen is a plant breeder/molecular geneticist. Prior to being Project Manager of the Intermediary Biotechnology Service of ISNAR in the Netherlands, he was Senior Biotechnology Advisor to the US Agency for International Development.

Participants in ABIC's Technology Transfer stream benefited from Dr. Joel Cohen experience with tech transfer programs in Southeast Asia. Cohen, Project Manager of the Intermediary Biotechnology Service (IBS), International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) in The Hague, Netherlands, described the results of an Agricultural Biotechnology Policy Seminar involving six Southeast Asian countries.

Cohen said that the seminar e stablished that the ability to demonstrate benefit-sharing, coupled with increased accountability and efficiency of research, are key elements to the success of tech transfer. 'In countries with advanced national research capabilities, efficiency has been increased by encouraging collaboration with industry, permitting public organizations to award exclusive licenses. To spread benefit, public institutions are encouraged to seek relevant partners to provide the widest dissemination. These measures increase impact and accountability, as the use and adoption of a technology become the most important measure of success.'

Presently, biotechnology research among developing countries is primarily the responsibility of the public sector. However, Cohen added, the c ommercial sector can also play an important role, depending on the clients, agroservices, and the technology- transfer routes available. 'Regardless of whether distribution is done by the public or private sector, recognized routes for technology transfer must be established. Even though researchers themselves may not be responsible for technology transfer, the directors of biotechnology research do have responsibility for their outputs reaching end users.'

Case Study: Indonesia

Cohen described tech transfer case studies in several countries, including Indonesia. The Indonesian example involved one company's (Fitotek Unggul) experiences with plant biotechnology. Its investments in this area began when a rapidly increasing demand for various kinds of planting material was recognized, particularly for the horticultural sector.

The transfer involved technologies to improve pineapple micropropagation using a bioreactor system developed by DNA Plant Technology (DNAP) in the USA. Collaboration with the private sec tor was facilitated through a bilateral development program supported by the US. Agency for International Development.

The Indonesian pineapple industry and growers were targeted as primary recipients of plantlets from the bioreactor technology. Besides p rivate-to-private collaboration, government support can be tapped to ensure that pineapple planting material becomes more widely available to all Indonesian farmers, and not just to commercial producers.

Achieving an equitable share of benefits

Concern was expressed in the seminar for resource-poor farmers who may not have adequate opportunities to receive and evaluate biotechnology products. Inadequate promotion of research results to these farmers was noted, as well as the need for greater farmer participation.

In general, Cohen said that if private sector collaboration and technology transfer are to be viable options for the tech transfer programs in this region, then communication with the private sector must occur at an early stage in research develop ment. 'This helps ensure that products are appropriate for private production and geared to identified clients or users of the research. In such cases, programs may require contractual mechanisms to ensure technology transfer, and the equitable sharing of benefits,' he said.

Business Stream

Business people around the world are recognizing the growth potential of agbiotech. In Saskatchewan and Canada, they have proven their commitment through their willingness to support ABIC '96 as participants, as exhibi tors, and as sponsors. In the ABIC Business Stream, 18 speakers from Canada, the US and the UK guide participants through the complexities of commercializing new biotechnologies. Summaries of two of their papers are presented here .

Determining whether a technology is commercially viable

Frederick Rogers, was CEO of Rogers & Associates Management Consultants prior to becoming President of Select University Technologies in 1993. Rogers was educated at the University of Alberta

'This is the dawn of the knowledge-based economy, and technology is it's currency. Yet far more technologies are being developed today than will ever meet with commercial success,' says Frederick Rogers, President of Select University Technologies of Newport Beach, USA. 'This makes it more critical than ever before to make informed judgments about the commercial viability of a new technology.'

Speaking to the Business Stream at ABIC '96, Rogers asked participants a simple question: 'How can you determine whether a technology is commercially viable?'

'The old adage 'that a swan and a turkey look the same at birth' is absolutely true when it comes to technology. There are no easy answers or magic shortcuts,' said Rogers. 'In my research on the subject, I examined thirteen of the greatest technological breakthroughs of all time. From King Camp Gillette and the disposable razor to Charles Goodyear (who died in debtors prison) and vulcanized rubber none were intuitively obvious successes. They all had one thing in common, however: each and every project received strong negative criticism from the industry leaders and credible people of the time.'

Rogers questions whether these captains of 19th century industry less bright than we are today or did they simply not understand what attributes a technology such as the telephone possesses which will cause its diffusion?

Research has proven that the likelihood of diffusion and the rate of adoption of a technology is to a great degree predetermined by the nature of the innovation itself. The attributes which most affect the adoption of a new technology by the target market are in fact inherent within the technology from the start. The trick is to identify them.

In the world of technology commercialization, the most important question to be answered is: Will it diffuse? 'Diffusion theory is complex and drawn from many disciplines - sociology, psychology, anthropology, mathematics, and consumer behavior. Research has focused on people as innovators, social systems as receptors or rejecters of ideas, and on the nature of innovations. It is helpful also to express the rate of diffusion as a function of the variables affecting the rate of adoption. In general, these include the attributes of the innovation itself; the nature of the target market; and the attributes of the delivery vehicle.'

How do we measure each of these variables, and more importantly, how do they relate to each other? Are they all of equal value, and if not, which are more important? Does the presence or absence of any one variable cause the diffusion process to stop?

'At Select University Technologies,' Says Rogers, 'we developed a questionnaire designed to seek quantitative measures of these parameters. We have also developed the weighted relationships between these variables and identified a range of output scores which separate projects with more promise from less meritorious technologies.

Does it really work? 'The model may not pick the winners,' Rogers comments, 'but it certainly eliminates the losers. In my own personal experience o ver a five-year period, I reviewed approximately 1,000 technologies and selected nine. I believe these are outstanding technologies and I know that it was this model which led me to them.'

Directors Role in Corporate Governance Emphasized

Denzil Doyle is President of Doyletech Corporation, a Kanata, Ontario consulting firm specializing in creating management tools for technology-intensive firms. He was formerly President of Digital Equipment in Ottawa, and is Chair of Instantel and Capital Alliance Ventures. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Carleton University in 1981.

Denzil Doyle, President of the consulting firm Doyletech, shared a series of insights on 'corporate governance' in technology companies with participants in the ABIC '96 Business Stream. Doyle's comments were especially relevant to company board directors.

'Most of the published information available to directors of companies is focused on their legal responsibilities,' said Doyle. 'However, most seasoned directors will agree that their responsibilities are much broader in scope. Their most fundamental responsibility is to ensure that the company survives and that it fulfills its obligations to all of its stakeholders. The most obvious stakeholders are shareholders, employees, governments, customers, creditors, and the community at large.'

Doyle believes that the best way of fulfilling those obligations is to ensure that the company is managed properly. 'Unfortunately, management means different things to different people. In a technology-based company, it takes on a number of dimensions which may be foreign to the average director. '

'The only reason why most technology-based companies come into existence in the first place,' Doyle contends, 'is because some other companies that were already supplying its target markets did not have aggressive and innovative product migration strategies. A board of directors that allows a company to fail because of inadequate product migration strategies is just as guilty as if it had failed to remit withholding payments to the government or violated some environmental regulation even though there are legal statues in place for the latter but not for the former.'

A good director of a technology-based firm will pay close attention to two things, the company's long range plan and its budget. 'The Long Range Plan is an annually updated document that projects the activities of the company for the next three to five years. It will outline the company's technology, product, and market strategies along with implementation plans for ensuring that the company maintains a strong position in each of its markets. The Budget is a detailed breakdown of the first year's financial projections.

'In addition to the above,' Doyle added, 'a good board will ensure that the company has a rigorous forecasting system in place so that deviations from either the long range plan or the budget can be detected well in advance.'

Doyle outlined the elements of an early warning system for directors for detecting problems within the company, particularly within the ranks of its senior management team. He said that potential trouble indicators to watch for include:

- A marked change of attitude on the part of the president or a key member of his management team (e.g. a persistent negative attitude, bad housekeeping habits, reduced energy level, etc.)

- Missed deadlines, particularly on items for delivery to the board, such as the long range plan, quarterly reports, or the budget.

- Across-the-board salary increases and bonuses with little appar ent attention paid to unusual individual performance.

- Significant changes in the management structure of the company, particularly ones that dramatically change the president's span of control.

- A tendency for the president to 'snow' the board with technical jargon, or to bring his or her direct reports to board meetings and to delegate reporting responsibilities to them.

In suggesting these warning signs, Doyle noted that none of them have anything to do with legal issues.

People Watch

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Dr. Reg Kucey has assumed the directorship of the Brandon Research Centre. Kucey, who was formerly with the Agri- Food Diversification Centre in Morden, Manitoba, replaces Dr. Al Robertson who has retired after 31 years of service.

Mrs . Diane Vincent has been appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Market and Industry Services, replacing Michelle Comeau who has joined Industry Canada. Vincent was formerly with the Government of Quebec.

Ken Kirkland has been appointed at manager of the Melfort Research Centre. He will continue to manage the Scott Research Centre.

Deputy Minister, Raymond Protti, of Agriculture and Agri- food Canada is leaving the Department to take a position with the Canadian Bankers Association.

Dista Products Ltd.

Dr. Graeme Macaloney, Project Manager with the Alberta Research Council in Edmonton has been appointed Group Leader, Fermentation Development with the Eli Lilly & Co. subsidiary, Dista Products Ltd. of Liverpool, England. His e-mail address will be macaloney_graeme@lilly.com.

National Research Council (NRC)

Dr. Wilf Keller, Leader of the NRC Plant Biotechnology Institute's Brassica Biotechnology Group in Saskatoon, has received the NRC's Outstanding Achievement Award. Keller's research productivity, peer recognition, and networking activities are acknowledged through this award.

Royal Bank of Canada

Corey Keith, Senior Account Manager for Knowledge-Based Industries (KBI) with the Royal Bank's Business Banking Centre in Saskatoon, is moving to Ontario where he will be Manager of KBI Markets at Metro West in Mississauga.

Jack Fleming will replace Corey Keith as Senior Account Manager for Knowledge-Based Industries in Saskatoon.

Saskatchewan Economic Development

Claire Kirkland is the new Deputy Minister of Saskatchewan Economic Development. Mr. Kirkland was previously Deputy Minister with Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation.

Visit the Ag-West Booth at ABIC

While you're at ABIC, take a moment to stop in at the Ag-West Booth. It's a great opportunity to learn how the Ag-West team can be of service to you. Ag-West acts as a catalyst for agbiotech development through early stage investment programs, business relationship brokering, industry education programs and information distribution.

You can also take advantage of

. Daily draws for prizes

. Free Publications

. Demonstrations of a 'Quick Dip in the Gene Pool' - a new teacher's multi-media resource on agbiotech

We Welcome Your Input

The AgBiotech Bulletin welcomes submissions of news, ideas and articles from subscribers. Information about new developments at your company or institution, notices about new products or resources, or observations about events and opportunities affecting the agbiotech industry will be considered for publication. Please put us on your mailing list for press releases and/or contact us directly regarding story ideas or submissions.

Contact: Debbie Lepage, Ag-West Biotech Inc., 230-111 Research Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Canada S7N 3R2; Phone: 306/975- 1939; Fax: 306/975-1966; E-mail: agwest@innovplace.saskatoon.sk.ca, Web: http://www.lights.com/agwest

Credits:

The Agbiotech Bulletin is published 12 times per year on behalf of Ag-West Biotech Inc. by Westcross House Publications, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7K OR1, e-mail: signatur@eagle.wbm.ca

Ag-West Biotech can be reached at 230-111 Research Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 3R2, e-mail: agwest@innovplace.saskatoon.sk.ca World Wide Web: http://www.lights.com/agwest/

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