78
a series of large-scale projects aimed at discovering the functions of the 25,000+
genes identified in Arabidopsis thaliana (Bevan and Walsh 2005).
In September of 2002, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the
launch of the Maize Genome Sequencing Project, but it was not until 2009 that a
multi-institutional effort, involving scientists at Washington University in St. Louis,
the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, the Arizona Genomics Institute,
and Iowa State University, resulted in the publication of a series of papers in the
journal Science revealing the DNA sequence of maize B73 (Schnable et al. 2009),
while in Mexico, scientists published results derived from the ancient popcorn variety palomero (Vielle-Calzada et al. 2009).
But while these initial efforts were largely supported by the public sector, the
many billions of genotypic and phenotypic datapoints collected today by seed companies, particularly in the development of hybrid crops, have forced them to invest
in infrastructure that dwarfs that of most academic institutions. Together with the
curation of proprietary germplasm collections by long operating seed companies,
this has allowed the private sector to become the major driver of the record yields
that are obtained today with hybrid seeds in the developed world. Even so, collaborations between the public and the private sector remain essential for progress to be
made and new inventions to be developed in hybrid breeding and more so with
varietal crops, where the germplasm held and developed by universities remains the
prevalent source of seeds for many farmers. Furthermore, such collaborations
enable the spillover of technological progress to crops relevant in developing countries for which seed companies have not typically developed specific cultivars.
3.3.3 The Age of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs),
Technology Alliances, and Biotechnology Startups
With the advent of a rapidly cycling simple model plant such as Arabidopsis thaliana, where forward genetics allowed academics all over the world to characterize
genes with putative functions in plant development and the protection of yield,
interactions between the public and the private sector became frequent and sustained, directed toward the elusive goal of extracting more yield from crop plants
under normal and stressed conditions through the application of recombinant techniques. Startup companies spun off from universities and corporations and attracted
venture capitalists eager to engage in an industry which promised large revenue
potential. Calgene, founded in 1980 in Davis, California, was one of the first to
believe that genetic engineering could be applied successfully to plant agriculture.
Calgene’s first product, the Flavr Savr tomato, was engineered with an antisense
gene to downregulate the enzyme polygalacturonase which participates in the softening of the fruit and makes it susceptible to being damaged by fungal infections
and postharvest handling. As a result, Calgene’s Flavr Savr tomato could be harvested later and withstood storage and transport much better than conventional
M. L. Müller and H. Campos
a series of large-scale projects aimed at discovering the functions of the 25,000+
genes identified in Arabidopsis thaliana (Bevan and Walsh 2005).
In September of 2002, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the
launch of the Maize Genome Sequencing Project, but it was not until 2009 that a
multi-institutional effort, involving scientists at Washington University in St. Louis,
the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, the Arizona Genomics Institute,
and Iowa State University, resulted in the publication of a series of papers in the
journal Science revealing the DNA sequence of maize B73 (Schnable et al. 2009),
while in Mexico, scientists published results derived from the ancient popcorn variety palomero (Vielle-Calzada et al. 2009).
But while these initial efforts were largely supported by the public sector, the
many billions of genotypic and phenotypic datapoints collected today by seed companies, particularly in the development of hybrid crops, have forced them to invest
in infrastructure that dwarfs that of most academic institutions. Together with the
curation of proprietary germplasm collections by long operating seed companies,
this has allowed the private sector to become the major driver of the record yields
that are obtained today with hybrid seeds in the developed world. Even so, collaborations between the public and the private sector remain essential for progress to be
made and new inventions to be developed in hybrid breeding and more so with
varietal crops, where the germplasm held and developed by universities remains the
prevalent source of seeds for many farmers. Furthermore, such collaborations
enable the spillover of technological progress to crops relevant in developing countries for which seed companies have not typically developed specific cultivars.
3.3.3 The Age of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs),
Technology Alliances, and Biotechnology Startups
With the advent of a rapidly cycling simple model plant such as Arabidopsis thaliana, where forward genetics allowed academics all over the world to characterize
genes with putative functions in plant development and the protection of yield,
interactions between the public and the private sector became frequent and sustained, directed toward the elusive goal of extracting more yield from crop plants
under normal and stressed conditions through the application of recombinant techniques. Startup companies spun off from universities and corporations and attracted
venture capitalists eager to engage in an industry which promised large revenue
potential. Calgene, founded in 1980 in Davis, California, was one of the first to
believe that genetic engineering could be applied successfully to plant agriculture.
Calgene’s first product, the Flavr Savr tomato, was engineered with an antisense
gene to downregulate the enzyme polygalacturonase which participates in the softening of the fruit and makes it susceptible to being damaged by fungal infections
and postharvest handling. As a result, Calgene’s Flavr Savr tomato could be harvested later and withstood storage and transport much better than conventional
M. L. Müller and H. Campos