New dawn for BioResources Group
Pest Management Group renamed
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Image courtesy of Syngenta |
For more than 50 years the
BioResources Group (formerly the
Pest Management Group) has continuously
evolved to maintain a
contemporary view of, and approach
to its activities. Recently, the Group’s
range of events has broadened to
include areas of plant, crop and
environmental science beyond pest
management, reflecting the way
the agrochemical industry and science
base have progressed.
The new Group will have plenty
of issues to cut its teeth on. Last year’s
sharp rises in grain prices highlighted
the pressures on global food
production, as stocks fell due to a
combination of increasing consumption
by people and livestock, drought-induced
low yields, and growing
competition from biofuel demand.
The familiar environmental issues
around soil and water quality are
now joined by climate change and
carbon footprints.
The BioResources Group will not
only tackle the chemistry and biotechnologies
of crop protection and
improvement to grow more food,
but also the development of crops
as feedstocks; for energy and biofuels;
and as sources of natural products
from fibres to pharmaceuticals.
Apart from attending current events,
members will find the Group’s pages on the SCI website a valuable resource,
as they include reports on
many years of previous conferences.
The Group is closely associated with
the SCI journal Pest Management Science and future activities will also
complement the new SCI journal Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefineries (Biofpr).
Who’s who
The BioResources committee is
chaired by Professor Colin Brown,
and comprises an active group of
more than 20 members at various
stages of their careers in industry,
universities, research institutes and
consultancies. Key organisations
such as Rothamsted Research, the
Central Science Laboratory and the
National Non-food Crops Centre are
represented, together with universities
including Bristol, Imperial
College, Hertfordshire, Portsmouth
and York. Other members have extensive
experience in agronomy,
crop physiology, discovery, environmental
sciences, formulation and
senior management in the agrochemical
majors or work in specialty
chemicals.
Events
Events organised by the new Group
include two conferences in spring 2008.
The first will look at progress in the
expanding science of plant signalling.
The complex responses plants
make to pest and disease attack, and
abiotic stresses such as drought,
present new commercial opportunities.
Plant activator treatments, which
alter gene expression within treated
plants, offer novel alternatives to
traditional means of controlling
pathogens and insect pests by toxic
modes of action. Click here for a full preview
of this event.
In late April 2008, Syngenta’s Jealott’s
Hill international research centre
will host a one-day symposium focusing
on wheat as a feedstock for
biofuels, bioenergy and high value
bioproducts. Wheat is the major
arable crop in Europe, with worldclass
yields in wetter regions. It has
been the subject of intense research
into increasing yields of grain and
protein for milling and feed, and
attention is now turning to optimising
varieties for bioethanol production,
first from grain starch and
later from cellulose in straw.
Getting involved
The emerging ‘bio-economy’ is truly
multidisciplinary and the reshaping
of the Group will develop new opportunities
for knowledge and networking.
It will also strengthen SCI’s activities
through collaborations with
colleagues in other Groups, where
previously there was little common
ground.
Any SCI members who would
like to get involved in the new Group
either by joining the committee, or
with ideas for conferences and other
activities, should contact honorary
secretary Dr Alan Baylis, E: alan.baylis@ nuvistix.com.
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