Plant biotech blossoms in Europe

28-Jun-2004

A new era for plant biotechnology in Europe is promised as a European technology platform on plant genomics and biotechnology is launched.

"We applaud the very important signal given by Commissioner Busquin and the European Commission through the establishment of a European Plant Genomics and Biotechnology Platform," says Feike Sijbesma, Chairman of EuropaBio, the European association for bioindustries.

Innovation in agriculture over the past 30 years has allowed farmers and consumers to beat inflation on farm products and has secured a plentiful supply of safe, high quality food. Plant science through the rapidly expanding area of genomics and biotechnology continues the agricultural research legacy and offers new ways to fight plant diseases, pests and weeds. Exciting new opportunities to improve the nutritional content of food, enhanced vegetable oils and the suppression of allergens are all on the horizon in plant science research.

EuropaBio hopes that this initiative will bring research in the field of plant genomics and biotechnology back to Europe and stimulate the European research sector - both public and private - to find European solutions for European problems. "Europe is in the midst of a life sciences revolution: there are now 1500 new companies doing research into the life sciences and creating a new knowledge based bio-economy," says Feike Sijbesma. "The use of biotechnology to produce biomass, bio-energy, bio-plastics and bio-textiles from plant products has the potential to revolutionise agriculture. It is not only foods and feeds that farmers will produce; plants will be the source of our fuels, compostible plastics, environmentally friendly cleaning agents and even our medicines."

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/38220/plant-biotech-blossoms-in-europe.html