1. Future innovative biotechnologies
and the regulatory hurdles that
impede them
Sally Mackenzie
Center for Plant Science Innovation
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

2. These projections require
us to increase yields on
less land with fewer
inputs…

3. Modern problems and technologies
cause us to rethink…
•The way we do research:
The value of The importance of
BASIC APPLICATION

4. Wish List for Crops of the Future
• Improved nutrient content of seed and edible parts
• Modified cell wall components for more efficient biofuel processing
• Genetic strategies to bypass sexual reproduction:apomixis or perennialism
• Development of biosensors to signal plant stress
• Modify plant architecture for water use efficiency
• Altered ripening and senescence properties for enhanced shelf life
• Improvement of nitrogen efficiency, introduce nitrogen fixation
• More innovative pest defenses

5. Chromatin, Inc.

6. Mini-chromosome biology

7. RNA interference (RNAi) for Selective Suppression of Genes…
These technologies can be used to change the expression of a plant gene
These technologies can be targeted to suppress expression of an
invading plant pathogen (virus, bacterium, fungus)

8. Targeted Gene Replacement

9. Laboratory and Plant Culture
Automation
Plant Phenomics

10. In 2008, GM crops were grown on almost 300
million acres in 25 countries (15 developing)
The world has consumed GM crops for 15
years without incident.
•increased productivity and farmer income
•decreased pesticide/herbicide use
•increased no-till farming
C James, Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2008 (Intl
Service for Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, Ithaca, NY)

11. The current situation:
• In the US, case-by-case review by at least two,
sometimes three regulatory agencies (USDA,
EPA, FDA) is commonly the rule.
• This has added about 10 years and $20M to the
testing and approval process
• This process excludes public sector researchers
from the use of molecular methods to improve
crops for farmers.
• Therefore, the benefits of biotechnology have
not been realized for the vast majority of food
crops.

13. New agricultural paradigms
Strategies to close the loop of nutrient flows
from microorganisms and plant to animals and
back, powered and irrigated by sunlight and
seawater.
Cultivation of non-traditional species in arid
locations

14. Future Agricultural Approaches on the Horizon:
Domestication and adaptation of crops for adverse
environments…high heat, high salt, flooding and drought
conditions
Engineering novel metabolic
pathways for enhanced
nutrition
Exploiting a plant’s natural
environmental sensing
mechanisms to create
epigenetic variation for
breeding