Tag: agriculture
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Bayer CropScience, Australian Agencies Partner on Wheat R&D
Bayer CropScience in Monheim, Germany, is collaborating with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO, Australia’s science agency) and the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation to develop new wheat varieties that produce higher yields. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. CSIRO has already designed a new higher-yielding wheat strain using genetic…
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Purdue Awards $200K for Research Commercialization
The Trask Innovation Fund at Purdue University in Indiana has awarded some $200,000 to help Purdue researchers take their discoveries to market. The awards cover research on alternative fuels, pharmaceutical drug dosage forms, assisted reproductive technology, and a mobile app for note-taking. The Trask Innovation Fund is a program of the Purdue Research Foundation to…
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Grant to Fund New Drought-Resistant Biofuel Grasses
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis has received a $12.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a more drought-resistant type of grass that can be processed into biofuels. The five-year award will be shared by collaborators at Carnegie Institution for Science, University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, University of…
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Agilent, University, Agencies to Partner on Pathogen Genomes
Agilent Technologies Inc. in Santa Clara, California is collaborating with University of California in Davis, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on collecting a database of 100,000 foodborne pathogen genomes. The 100K Genome Project aims to sequence the genetic code of some 100,000 foodborne pathogens over five years, and make…
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UN Body Releases New Food Safety Standards
The UN’s Codex Alimentarius Commission issued new safety standards for infant formula, fruit, and seafood, as well as recommendations for nutritional labeling. The commission, a joint standards body of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), released the standards at its 2-7 July meeting in Rome. Codex standards can…
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U.S.-India Partnership to Develop Long Shelf-Life Tomato
Arcadia Biosciences Inc. in Davis, California, and Bioseed Research India Pvt. Ltd. in Hyderabad unveiled plans to develop a tomato with more durability and longer shelf life. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Because of their perishable nature, many fresh fruits and vegetables — including tomatoes — are bred for durability and yield…
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Rapid Cooling Adds Shelf Life to Fresh Eggs
Food scientists at Purdue University in Indiana have shown that rapid cooling of just-laid eggs adds weeks to their shelf life. The process for achieving these results is described in the June issue of the journal Poultry Science (paid subscription required). Kevin Keener, a food science professor at Purdue, led the research, which uses liquid…
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International Consortium Studies Corn Genome
A collaboration of genetic and agricultural scientists from the U.S., Mexico, France, Kenya, and China have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the corn genome. The team, led by researchers from Cornell University and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, and funded by USDA and National Science Foundation, published their findings online in the journal Nature Genetics…
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Process Developed to Determine Tomato Flavor Chemistry
Researchers from University of Florida and Ohio State University have developed a method to reveal the chemical composition of tasty tomatoes that the researchers say can lead to better-tasting tomatoes in the supermarket. Their findings appear online in the journal Current Biology (paid subscription required). The interdisciplinary team led by Florida horticultural sciences professor Harry…
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Venture Fund Raises $50M for Cleantech, Materials Start-Ups
Pangaea Ventures Ltd. in Vancouver, British Columbia has raised $US 50 million for its Pangaea Ventures Fund III that aims to invest in early-stage cleantech companies using advanced materials technologies. Pangaea says the new investment fund expects to eventually raise $100 million. The limited partners in the fund are corporate and private-equity venture investors including…