Europe challenges United States in stem cell research A major research project that links the expertise of 20 leading organizations has been launched in Europe with the aim to keep Europe at the forefront of human embryonic stem cell research. The ESTOOLS consortium, led by the Centre for Stem Cell Biology at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, is a European Union Sixth Framework Programme Integrated Project, which will advance fundamental understanding and biomedical application of human embryonic stem cells, generating significant benefits in human healthcare. The project plans to generate knowledge on the fundamental processes governing stem cell differentiation and permit greater standardization of research with human embryonic stem cells, not only in Europe but also throughout the world. It will include the development of robust internationally agreed standardized protocols, tools for growing and manipulating embryonic stem cell lines, and for monitoring their phenotypic, genetic and epigenetic stability. ESTOOLS also plans to train young researchers across Europe to gain expertise in the field of embryonic stem cells. Website: www.bionity.com India announces launch of annual Asia biotech meeting Noting that the biotechnology industry in Asia is still at a nascent stage, India has announced the launch of an annual ‘Asia Biotech’ meet, bringing together scientists and biotechnology experts who will focus mostly on the needs of the people of the region. Mr. Kapil Sibal, Minister of Science and Technology, said that most of Asia was largely an agricultural community and therefore, agricultural biotechnology was necessary for food security. He announced launching of the annual meeting at the fourth ASEAN informal ministerial meeting on Science and Technology, held at Kuatan in Pahang state, Malaysia. The meet was modelled on the lines of the ‘Biotechnology Conference’ held annually in the United States. The Asia Biotech conference will be held in rotation across ASEAN plus six nations namely, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. The first conference will be held at New Delhi in November 2007. Website: www.checkbiotech.org Malawi to formulate a national biotech policy According to the African News Dimension, Malawi is in the process of formulating its national biotechnology policy. Mr. Patrick Kachimera, Malawi’s Secretary for Science and Technology, said that it is imperative for Malawi as a developing nation to put much emphasis on biotechnology research and development. Mr. Kachimera also said that a policy is already under development. The government wanted to ensure that caution is exercised, and that biosafety would be given utmost consideration. Malawi’s National Research Council is in the process of drafting the policy, which would regulate the use, import, export and research on biotechnology in the country. Website: www.nrcm.org.mv Danforth Plant Science Centre gets a US$15 million gift The Danforth Plant Science Centre, the United States, announced that it has received a US$15 million gift from Monsanto Co. to boost the non-profit Centre’s mission of bringing biotechnology to the developing world. The Centre has worked for seven years on cassava, a tropical crop that is the most important food security crop in Africa, one that keeps farmers from starvation when the main crop fails. In the last decade, however, a plant virus had swept across the eastern Africa and decimated the cassava crop. Researchers at the Danforth Plant Science Centre have engineered a virus-resistant cassava. Plant biotechnologist Dr. Joel Cohen said that non-profit science centres have been going good at doing research but less adept at turning that research into humanitarian products for poor people. Mr. Rob Rose, spokesperson for the Centre, said that corn researchers would also get some of the gift money. Researchers are trying to make corn resistant to fungal diseases, which reduce yields and produce mycotoxins that can be a threat to human and animal health. Website: www.agbios.com  Australia funds hepatitis B vaccine project The Australian government has provided approximately US$1 million grant to Vaxine Pty. Ltd. to assist the commercialization of its new hepatitis B vaccine. Mr. Ian Macfarlane, the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources of Australia, indicated during the announcement that Vaxine’s hepatitis B inoculation was expected to be less toxic, less painful and more potent than vaccines available at present. Vaxine’s Chairman, Professor Nikolai Petrovsky, who developed the vaccine with Dr. Peter Cooper from the Australian National University’s John Curtin School of Medical Research, indicated that early testing had demonstrated the vaccine to be safe. Prof. Petrovsky suggested that the natural ingredients in the vaccine booster might be the reason why this adjuvant is tolerated so well by the body. He said that Vaxine’s aim is to use the vaccine to immunize those people who were not exposed to hepatitis B and to protect them against the virus. He added that there is a good chance that the vaccine could also be used to treat infected people. Website: www.biospectrum.com United States FDA forms task force on human tissue safety The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the formation of a multidisciplinary task force on human cell and tissue safety. The FDA Tissue Task Force (HTTF), which will be led by senior FDA officials from within the Centre for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) and the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), was established as part of the agency’s efforts to strengthen its comprehensive, risk-based system for regulating human cells and tissue. The main priority of HTTF will be to assess the effectiveness of implementation of the new tissue regulations, which went into effect in 2005. A review of recently reported findings that some tissue recovery establishments are not following federal requirements for tissue recovery would be of particular interest. Dr. Jesse Goodman, Director of CBER said that the primary goal of the new task force is to identify whether any other steps are needed to further protect the public health while assuring the availability of safe products. Chronicle Pharmabiz, 7 September 2006 Thailand sees GM as key to staying ahead Thailand is likely to start developing genetically modified (GM) crops in order to maintain its competitive edge in the global food export business, said Professor Sakarindr Bhumiratana from the National Science and Technology Development Agency, Thailand. “I don’t think we can maintain this non-allowance of GM field trials for much longer because it will limit our development of seeds and more productive crops,” said Prof. Sakarindr. Thailand, the world’s leading exporter of canned tuna and frozen shrimp, is seeing a rising challenge from China in many of its biggest exports including rice, shrimp and pineapples. While the shrimp production of Thailand is now saturated, China is expanding in this sector by around 25 per cent this year. Thailand is also down in global rankings in rice exports and needs to increase its research into new technologies to improve productivity. Website: www.ap-foodtechnology.com International Rice Prize 2006 Prof. Dr. Akihiko Ando of the Centre for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA), Brazil, won the Koshihikari International Rice Prize for 2006. Prof. Ando was chosen in recognition of his outstanding research, teaching and extension activities related to rice breeding using mutation induction for the last 40 years. The Koshihikari International Rice Prize was established in 1997 to celebrate 50 years of development of one of Japan’s most popular rice cultivars, the Koshihikariin. The second winner of the 2006 prize is Dr. Moussa Sié from the Africa Rice Centre (WARDA). FAO/IAEA Plant Breeding and Genetics Newsletter, No. 17