[Ngo-sanrm] BBC E-mail: Key wheat genetic codes unlocked
Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Working Group
ngo-sanrm at ngocentre.org.vn
Thu Nov 29 09:53:02 ICT 2012
Thanks very much, Trude. This may be extremely important. I've made a few notes below, which are highlighted.
I'm also copying this to members of the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Working Group (SANRM) and hope that more knowledgeable members will correct me if my comments below are not accurate.
CHUCK
==================================
CHUCK SEARCY
Project RENEW
Vietnam Enterprise Group
Humpty Dumpty Institute
Veterans for Peace
25 Truong Han Sieu, #302, Hanoi, Vietnam
Mobile: +84 (0) 903 420 769
Email: chucksearcy at yahoo.com
Web: landmines.org.vn
Web: vietnamenterprisegroup.com
Web: thehdi.org
Web: veteransforpeace.org
Skype: chucksearcy
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________________________________
From: Trude <trude_bennett at unc.edu>
To: chucksearcy at yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 8:17 AM
Subject: BBC E-mail: Key wheat genetic codes unlocked
Trude saw this story on the BBC News website and thought you
should see it.
** Key wheat genetic codes unlocked **
Scientists
unlock key parts of the complex genetic code of wheat, one of the
world's most important crops, which could help improve food security.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/science-environment-20512197 >
28 November 2012 Last updated at 18:00 GMT
Wheat genome's key parts unlocked in new studyBy Mark Kinver Environment reporter, BBC News
Wheat provides one fifth of the global population's intake of calories
Scientists have unlocked key parts of the complex genetic code of wheat, one of
the world's most important crops, which could help improve food
security.
The team hopes the data will accelerate the development of
varieties more resilient to stresses, such as disease and drought, that
cause crops to fail.
The 2012 wheat harvest was hit by extreme weather events around the globe, causing a sharp rise in prices.
Details of the findings have been published in the journal Nature.
In 2011, the global output of 681 million tonnes made bread
wheat the third most-produced food crop (behind maize and rice) and
accounted for about 20% of the calories consumed by the world's
population.
The study - involving UK, US and German scientists - has
built on the 2010 publication of the draft genome, resulting in the
development of tools that can decipher the genetic code of segments of
the genome.
The researchers hope the information could help breeders
produce varieties that are better suited to cope with future threats to
production yields.
Key traits
"One of the things about why bread wheat is grown all over
the world is that you are able to adapt it to local environments,"
explained co-author Neil Hall from the University of Liverpool's
Institute of Integrative Biology.
As far as I know, Vietnam is not able to grow wheat. They have tried, with little success -- at least that's my understanding. There may be some areas where wheat can be grown but I'm not aware of such locations. I would have to inquire to be sure. In any case, this development might lead to strains which Vietnam could grow successfully.
"The tools we have generated will allow people to more
rapidly identify where in the genome these traits are located and breed
them into new lines."
Prof Hall told BBC News that the tool would also "help identify disease resistance and better grain quality".
"We know that there are wild varieties that are particularly
good when it comes to drought resistance or flood resistance, but they
have very low productivity," he added.
"You have got to get those high-productivity traits into backgrounds that are more resistant to things like drought or disease."
The researchers say that breeders and researchers will now be able to select plants with desirable combinations of genes using the genetic landmarks (known as markers) identified in the study.
My understanding (based on Jeffrey Smith's presentations) is that
"markers" are a safe, natural "hybridization" process to encourage
better strains of plants and seeds but through natural selection. If the genetic alteration is rejected by the plant, that's fine, that's a natural process. The genetic modification is not forcedinto the biological makeup of the plant through the radical and
powerful injection of millions of genes until one manages to cling to
the target and heal the damage sufficiently to create an entirely new
gene. Genetic markers are simply speeding up a natural selection
process. (Sorry, that's a my layman's way of expressing ineffectively a much more complex process, I'm sure.)
"With markers, breeders can track the genetic make-up of
plants when new varieties are being bred," explained co-author Prof Mike Bevan from the John Innes Centre, Norfolk.
"Plants lacking the desired traits can be eliminated more
efficiently, and those with the desired characteristics identified more
quickly, speeding up the production of new varieties."
Prof Hall said that while it was difficult to forecast when
the first varieties of wheat using the new technique would be grown, he
said that it was possible that it could be as little as five years.
Prof Douglas Kell, chief executive of the UK's Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council, which funded the research,
commented: "In the face of this year's wheat crop losses, and worries
over the impact on prices for consumers, this breakthrough in our
understanding of the bread wheat genome could not have come at a better
time.
"This modern strategy is a key component to supporting food
security and gives breeders the tools to produce more robust varieties
with higher yields."
Facts about the 'staff of life'
* Wheat (Triticum spp) was one of the first domesticated food crops
* For about 8,000 years, it has been the basic staple food of many major civilisations
* The crop can be grown from equatorial regions to within the Arctic Circle
* Wheat has been recorded growing as high as 4.5km above sea level
* Raised bread loaves are possible because the wheat kernel
contains gluten, which traps minute CO2 bubbles when fermentation
occurs
* It is grown on more than 240m hectares, more than any other food crop
(Source: UN FAO)
Related Stories
* Can science help improve food security?
* Wheat genome boost to food supply
* World food prices up 10% in July
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