It’s that time of the week: The CBI Ag Biotech news round-up! Here’s what we’re reading this week:

Purdue University Researcher finds that introducing a yeast gene extends the shelf life of tomatoes

Avtar Handa, a professor of horticulture at Purdue University, found that adding a yeast gene to tomatoes increases production of a compound that slows aging and decay. Fully ripe tomatoes from the transgenic tomato plants studied lasted about eight days longer before showing signs of shriveling compared with the non-transgenic plants. This finding can have broad implications and help people have access to fresh fruits even without controlled environment storage. Learn more

Hawaii Crop Improvement Association’s annual meeting

The annual meeting of the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association (a CBI partner) brought together “more than 150 members, allies and stakeholders of Hawaii’s agriculture industry.” In addition to policymakers and local reporters, this year’s meeting featured Douglas Jones, Executive Director of Growers for Biotechnology, who gave the keynote address on Food, Fiber and Fuel for the Future: Embracing Biotechnology.

Loren Mochida of the Hawaii Papaya Industry Association also gave a speech at the meeting on the evolution of Hawaii’s Rainbow papaya (a biotech variety) and its potential to be imported into Japan. Read more and view photos from the annual meeting. 

Many thanks to our friends Karl Haro von Mogel and Frank N. Foode (everyone’s favorite biotech buddy) of Biofortified fame for posting some great photos from our time at BIO 2010 in Chicago. We especially love and appreciate the photos featuring the CBI panel and CBI experts/panelists.  View the photos.

CBI Managing Director Ariel Gruswitz poses with Frank N. Foode

Frank N. Foode makes friends (and a photo album) at BIO 2010

Thanks again to Karl and our favorite biotech buddy, Frank N. Foode!

CBI Expert Dr. Pamela Ronald, Professor of Plant Pathology at UC-Davis and author of Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food, provided CBI, in the lead-up to our BIO 2010 panel about public perception and agricultural biotechnology, her expert opinion on this important topic. Thanks, Pam!

Council for Biotechnology Information: What do you believe is the public’s perception of agricultural biotechnology and do you believe this is a fair portrayal of the science?

Dr. Ronald: There is no doubt that GE [genetically engineered] crops have an image problem in Europe and in some parts of the US. Part of the problem is that many see the process of GE as a tool that only benefits large corporations and large farmers in the US and other countries. But it’s also a tool for breeding, it’s a tool for biologists, it’s a tool for farmers. READ MORE »

CBI Expert Dr. Bruce Chassy, Professor of food microbiology and nutritional sciences at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and co-founder of Academics Review, will be participating in CBI’s panel at the 2010 BIO International Convention about public perception and agricultural biotechnology. He was kind of enough to offer us some of his initial thoughts on this critical subject. We look forward to hearing more from Dr. Chassy on May 5 at BIO 2010!

Council for Biotechnology Information: What do you believe is the public’s perception of agricultural biotechnology, and do you believe this is a fair portrayal of the science?

Dr. Chassy: I think the regular surveys that IFIC (International Food Information Council) does provide a pretty good insight into what the majority of consumers are thinking.  Their most recent survey shows that great the majority of Americans do not view ag biotech, and in particular transgenic crops or GM [Genetically Modified] foods, as a food safety concern. READ MORE »

CBI is organizing a panel this year at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Conference on May 5 titled “How Public Perception Affects Adoption of Technologies that Help Feed the World.” We are excited about our distinguished group of panelists and are looking forward to a robust discussion about the political, communication and regulatory hurdles that slow acceptance of agricultural technologies.

The panel will address the connection between public perception of technologies, such as agricultural biotechnology, and their adoption. The speakers will address the political hurdles, which often result from cultures of misinformation and unfounded fears, that inhibit acceptance of agricultural technologies and that prevent certain populations from access to their many benefits.

We would love to hear ideas from our readers and let you help shape our panel discussion. Please feel free to submit questions for our panelists through Twitter, Facebook or the comments section of the blog. Our moderator, Sally Squires, will choose the best and use them throughout our panel.

Below are our excellent panelists, an accomplished group of authors, journalists, academics and advocates. We look forward to hearing their unique and informed perspectives about the role perception plays in the adoption of crop technology.

Sally Squires - Moderator
Senior Vice President, Weber Shandwick; former medical and health Staff Writer and Nationally Syndicated Columnist for The Washington Post

Michael Specter
Staff writer for The New Yorker, author of Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives

Maywa Montenegro
Senior Associate Editor, Seed Magazine

Bruce Chassy, Ph. D.
Professor of food microbiology and a professor of nutritional sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Kenneth Kamiya
President, Hawaii Papaya Industry Association

Margaret Zeigler, Ph. D.
Deputy Director, Congressional Hunger Center