Public Service

The SBC engages in public service activities to support the seed and agricultural industries. Our goal is to be a publicly available source of fact-based information on seeds, crop improvement and agricultural biotechnology.

• Isolation mapping program. In collaboration with the California Crop Improvement Association, the SBC developed a web-based program that allows seed producers to identify their fields on GIS maps. This facilitates the location of seed production fields with sufficient isolation to minimize out-crossing and maintain genetic purity.
• Biotechnology regulatory issues. SBC scientists are involved in efforts to harmonize and rationalize the regulations under which crops developed using genetic engineering are commercialized and traded, both domestically and internationally.
• American Seed Research Summit. In 2008, the SBC worked with the American Seed Trade Association and other industry, government and academic groups to convene an American Seed Research Summit to identify critical research, education and policy objectives to maintain excellence in plant breeding and seed biology.
• Biotechnology and Co-Existence. The SBC participated in recent negotiations in Bonn, Germany, concerning the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
• The SBC took the lead in producing “100 Years of Breeding,” a Centennial publication tracking the history of plant breeding at UC Davis.
• Gene Flow in Alfalfa: Biology, Mitigation and Potential Impact on Production
• Transgenic Field Trials
• Stakeholder communication. The SBC has organized and hosted group meetings to discuss procedures for introduction of biotech varieties in order to minimize impacts on existing seed production and marketing operations. Also, the SBC has organized meetings for academic and public parties to discuss, for example, how to best incorporate genomics into breeding programs for Solanaceae crops.

Web-based Field Isolation Maps

Seed crops require isolation to prevent undesired cross-fertilization between different varieties of the same species or between closely related species. Crop isolation can be achieved either by spatial (distance) or temporal (time) factors. This internet isolation or "pinning" map is designed to allow seed growers to identify the location, species and planting date of seed crops produced in California. Seed production personnel can electronically mark or "pin" fields from their offices on this secure web site to allow real time tracking of seed production activities. The mapping system does not enforce field isolations, but rather is available as a tool to assist seed companies and/or growers to work cooperatively to ensure high genetic purity. The service was developed as a result of the financial support and advice of numerous vegetable and field seed companies, the California Crop Improvement Association (CCIA) and the SBC.

Biotech regulatory issues for minor crops

• Submitted comments to APHIS for regulatory input.
  
  
• Developing a rationale for an IR-4-like program to assist with regulatory requirements for minor crops.

For additional Information see the California Agriculture issue dedicated to issues surrounding horticultural biotechnology.

Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture (PIPRA) is an initiative by universities, foundations and non-profit research institutions to make agricultural technologies more easily available for development and distribution of subsistence crops for humanitarian purposes in the developing world and of specialty crops in the developed world. Although public-sector institutions have made many of the discoveries underlying agricultural biotechnology, most of these have been licensed to private companies or remain underutilized. PIPRA seeks to develop a consolidated database and clearinghouse of publicly available technologies that could be used to develop improved crop varieties, particularly for minor and subsistence crops. The SBC contributed to research evaluating the intellectual property holdings of both the public and private sectors and in developing support for the PIPRA initiative among universities, USDA and non-governmental organizations. PIPRA's director, Dr. Alan Bennett, and staff are located in the Plant Reproductive Biology building along with the SBC. For more information go to PIPRA.

US Agricultural biotechnology patents granted, 1982-2001