Information Systems for Biotechnology (ISB) News Report
PARTIAL TABLE OF CONTENTS, relevant to seed professionals (links are to the ISB News Report website)

CONFERENCE NEWS

14th Annual Meeting of BIO: Conference Highlights
Tracy Sayler
BIO 2006 was the 14th annual meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Organization and is the largest international biotechnology conference in the world. BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations across the United States and 31 other nations. BIO 2006 attracted a record 19,479 attendees from 62 countries. Nearly one-third of the attendees were international participants. Twelve U.S. governors attended. Keynoting BIO 2006, former president Bill Clinton discussed the role of biotechnology in addressing food security in the developing world, as well as global health and environmental issues.

RISK ASSESSMENT

Risk Assessment for Pest Resistance Transgenes
Colleen K. Kelly
Our model on risk assessment for pest resistance transgenes in natural communities was recently featured in the ISB News Report. Since then, we have published a modification of our original model to allow estimation of the impact of multiple seasons of transgene input into a non-crop population; input seasons may be at either continuous or discontinuous intervals.

PLANT RESEARCH NEWS

Transgenic Plants for Spider Silk-like Protein Production
P. S. Janaki Krishna
Scientists have long envied the strength and elasticity of spider's silk but have been unable to synthesize it. The dragline silk of the Golden Orb-weaving Spider is the most studied in scientific research. Dragline silk is the fiber from which spiders make the scaffolding of their webs. Of late, demonstrations of cloning and expression of silk fibroin protein, including spider dragline silk, represent an exciting scientific opportunity and technological challenge.

Root Engineering: A Strategy for Agriculture in Marginal Areas of Cultivation
Roberto A. Gaxiola
Global water strategies focus on reducing overall agricultural use and increasing availability for human consumption. However, population growth and global warming are driving regional shifts in production and increased demand for irrigation. Improvement of plant water utilization is therefore critical. Some drought resistant plants develop deep and dense root systems. These natural adaptations suggest that manipulation of developmental mechanisms to enhance lateral root proliferation can be an effective strategy to engineer drought resistant plants. Despite their obvious role in water uptake, roots have not been targeted in genetic engineering strategies to improve crop performance under drought conditions.

NEWS & NOTES

Database of the Benefits and Safety of Biotechnology
CropLife International is making publicly available a database of published papers and reviews demonstrating the benefits and safety implications associated with the use of agricultural biotechnology products. The purpose of this database is to enable you quickly and easily to locate and access credible scientific information about the demonstrated benefits associated with the use of agricultural biotechnology products, and about their safety.

Virginia Bioinformatics Institute to Develop Tomato Metabolite Database
A researcher at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, is developing a database and computational tools to help scientists learn more about how certain genes in tomatoes affect the crop's flavor and nutritional value. This resource will be used to identify key genes involved in the synthesis of essential metabolites that impact tomato flavor and the quality of its nutrients.