RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP TAKES ROOT
New era in plant genomics
UCLA Today
A new institute created by a public/private partnership and codirected by UCLA scientists could lead the way to a revolution in the way we use plants. Genetically engineered plants may one day become factories that
will manufacture essential products, like vaccines and pharmaceuticals or even fuel for cars.
The University of California and Ceres, Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company, have formed a partnership to create a multicampus "institute without walls" to support research in plant genomics by faculty, researchers and students.
"We're in a new era where genetic engineering opens the possibility to use plants as factories of novel chemicals — and this will change the economics of agriculture," said Robert B. Goldberg, professor of cell, molecular and developmental biology. Goldberg, along with Fred Eiserling, dean of life sciences, is a codirector of the newly created Seed Institute.
"When people look back 1,000 years from now, they will say that this was the beginning of directing our biological destiny," Goldberg said.
Malibu-based Ceres, Inc. will provide $5.75 million to UC over five years to support plant molecular biology research at the Seed Institute. The partnership comes at a time when molecular and genetic techniques make it possible to identify, isolate and define the function of every gene in plant chromosomes.
"The Seed Institute will contribute to the discovery of the genes that will change our thinking about what plants can do for mankind," Goldberg said. "We will be able to answer such questions as which genes determine the architecture of a plant and how they work."
The agreement will also create the Plant Genomics Technology Center at UCLA. Ceres will provide $1 million to establish the center for the use of scientists and students and equip it with the most sophisticated technologies available.
"All the technology necessary to engineer a plant exists," Goldberg said. "Genetic engineering of plants is old stuff now." Scientists are already able to design plants containing better nutrients for human consumption and plants that are insect-resistant. "More than 30% of all crop plants in the U.S. are genetically engineered," the scientist continued. "Ten years from now, it will be close to 100%."
Under the agreement, Ceres will provide $4.75 million for research over five years, including sponsoring undergraduate research fellowships at UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz. Laboratories on these four UC campuses will be part of the Seed Institute, along with the University of Utah, which has a renowned plant genetics laboratory.
"Ceres will provide the technology necessary to test our researchers' theories and determine whether our scientists have discovered principles that are generally applicable to seeds," said Eiserling. "Undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students will be trained and will benefit greatly from this unique collaboration."
Brian Copenhaver, provost of the College of Letters and Science, praised the alliance as "a novel model for a partnership" between industry and universities. "This unique long-term commitment by an agricultural biotechnology company supports university research and teaching, and will make it possible for the University of California to provide the basic research that will be applied to generate the agricultural products of the next century."
