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Mississippi State University announces initiative in agricultural biotechnology education
Starkville, Mississippi
September 8, 2004

A team of prominent international scientists led by a Mississippi State University research administrator is helping guide production of a documentary series examining U.S. and international progress in agricultural biotechnology.

Tentatively titled “Biotechnology and Agriculture: Delivering on the Promise,” the five-part video series is planned for distribution primarily to American high school and university students, said H. Alan Wood, director of the university ’s Life Sciences and Biotechnology Institute. He also is leading fund-raising efforts to cover the production costs.

“Teachers have expressed a need for credible, balanced educational materials that examine agricultural biotechnology and the applications of the science to food production and human health,” Wood said.

“This documentary series and accompanying printed materials will significantly enhance biotech education in our schools and assist students in understanding the benefits of the science and the issues being debated,” he added.

The 10-person advisory committee includes Norman Borlaug, a 1970 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, father of the “green revolution” and founder of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico.

Endorsing the concept of the series, Bourlag said “I am a hundred percent in agreement with producing a creative, stimulatory set of videotapes for students at high school and college level, to give them an insight into what modern biotechnology can do to improve the stability and productivity of our food production systems.”

Wood said the project already has received some $70,000 in challenge grants toward a projected total production cost of approximately $875,000.

Other committee members include Charles Arntzen, director of the Arizona Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University; Roger Beachy, president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Mo.; Claude Fauquet, director of the International Laboratory for Tropical Agricultural Biotechnology, also in St. Louis; Ernest Jaworski, retired biological sciences director at the Monsanto Co.; and Steven Pueppke, associate research dean at the University of Illinois’ College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Science.

Others include Peter Raven, director of St. Louis’ Missouri Botanical Garden; Eugene Sander, vice provost and dean of the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and, Florence Wambugu, chief executive officer of Kenya-based Africa Harvest Biotechnology International.

Wood said the videos will be shot on location throughout the world. “This is an important opportunity for organizations interested in biotechnology education to receive sponsorship credit with Mississippi State for this new documentary series,” he observed.

Both the videos and the collateral materials will be produced and written by Karen Keeler Rogers, president of KKR & Co. of Northbrook, Ill. Rogers, a specialist in biotechnology education, has produced numerous films, videos and print materials on the subject that have been incorporated into school curricula throughout the U.S.

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