Exam 3 CPSC 261 SP19 uiuc

IP protection is important to agricultural biotechnology because:

- living organisms can be "copied" very easily by natural processes of reproduction - it serves as incentive to conduct biotechnology research

What is the typical cost to commercialize a transgenic crop trait?

100,000,000

What percentage of crop value does cotton seed account for and how much money does this part of the crop produce

13-24% of crop value, $3.25 - $6 billion

How many states in the US grow cotton

17

How many farms in the US grow cotton

18,155

What is the duration for patent protection in the US

20 years from filing date

How many comments were received?

49 comments

What does this patent cover?

A method for silencing dCS in seeds with RNAi

What features of the identity-preserved system would be needed to ensure that conventional does not enter supply chains dedicated to low gossypol cotton.

A method to test for gossypol to ensure no gossypol is entering food products for animals or humans. it would also be good to keep ULGCS from other biotech crops to ensure that normal gossypol lines do not contaminate this line

Using the dates of the postings what has the timeline for key regulatory actions and by what agencies

All postings by APHIS 12/5/17 Petition of non-regulated status 8/1/18 Environmental assessments 10/17/18 Determination of non-regulated status

Who are important participants in a supply chain that would use cottonseed protein?

Aquaculture, poultry, cotton producing countries that suffer from malnutrition

What is the anticipated value increase for farmers using low gossypol cotton?

At least $25/ton. At 5 MMT/year. $125 million can be added to farmer income

What are the TWO most important business reasons that have driven the choice of crops and traits developed during the first two decades of agricultural biotechnology?

Crops - large acreage commodity crops where seeds are already purchased Traits - chemical pesticides for weed and insect control are a major economic input, so gene modifications tht either replace or reduce pesticide use had defined large market value

What are some of the factors that could influence the regulatory approval of low-gossypol cotton in these countries?

Different in African countries have varying policies on transgenic crops. Some of them do not allow GMO crops which would be problematic for getting ULGCS in their food systems

Reduced lignin

Farmers - more digestable feed Consumers - new source of renewable fuels

increased levels of essential amino acids

Farmers - price premium over commodity crop price Consumer - better nutrition

When was the filing date

Feb 16, 2007

What is one area where venture capital-funded startups are driving innovation in crop biotechnology?

Gene editing, biofertilizers, biopesticides

Describe one example of using metabolic engineering to increase the nutritional value of food or feed crops

Golden rice - add genes that complete partial beta carotene pathways in rice grain to enhance vitamin A content

any product of the human intellect that is unique, novel, and unobvious (and has some value in the marketplace)

Intellectual property (IP)

In 2012, how much cotton lint (MMT) and cotton seed (MMT) was produced?

Lint 25.9 MMT, Seed 48.8 MMT

Why is intellectual property (IP) so important for the development of agricultural biotech products?

Living organisms are easy to copy and IP helps stimulate investment in risky, but potentially transformative tech development.

__________ are the most common form of IP protection in ag biotech. They protect the inventor's rights to commercialize novel and useful methods, processes, products or composition of matter in exchange for public disclosure.

Patents

Describe one example of using biotech to DECREASE the amount of an undesirable component in food or feed crops?

Reduce PPOs in the innate potato

New agricultural biotechnology development is both science and market driven. There are lots of great ideas, but few are commercially successful. T/F

T

Organic agriculture does not use biotechnology. This decision is not based on science, but rather aims to create market differentiation. T/F

T

There have been numerous disputes involving IP and licenses in agricultural biotechnology, which have helped shape the industry. T/F

T

What institution is the Assignee

Texas A&M University

Which state accounts for the most cotton production and how much of the total production is produced in this state?

Texas, 44% of all US cotton

What is the most important business reason that has driven the recent mergers?

There is little opportunity to grow shareholder value. Mergers aid in shareholder value and build complementary areas of market strength, tech, and intellectual property

What features of the identity-preserved system would help preserve the added value of the low-gossypol cotton compared to conventional cotton?

ULGCS could be sold at a premium to farms and to products derived from the seed. Proper labelling and sorting of the seed would be essential to prevent mixing

phase 3

advanced development

golden rice

africa and southeast asia

What is the summary of the different types of individuals or institutions that offered comments?

almost all were in support of deregulation, only a few were against

Thermostable enzymes that degrade plant cell walls

animal feed enzymes to increase digestibility and lignin

faster growing eucalyptus

brazil

Herbicide-resistant weeds are a concern. what can farmers who grow transgenic crop varieties do to help

carefully follow label directions with respect to rates and timing of herbicide applications

The most important parts of patents are their _________ (describing what is being patented), and ________

claims; filing date

In agricultural biotechnology, IP protection may be obtained for:

commercial crop varieties, genetic elements (coding regions, promoters, etc.), transgenic organisms, and methods to isolate, transfer, or assay genes

political/government challenges to applying biotech in developing countries

concerns about trade relationships with the EU

Low phytate

consumers - less P polution from manure, improved nutrient uptake in diets Farmers - greater available P in diet

A number of crops are now available with "stacked" biotech traits. Provide ex

corn and cotton stacks of Bt and herbicide tolerance two major approaches - cross individual events together and combine trait genes into one transgene

Biotechnology product development often takes a ___________, progressing through major phases of discovery, proof-of-concept, performance at a field scale, regulatory review, and market launch

decade +

R genes

detection and signaling pathogens

How does society benefit from awarding patent rights to inventors

developers disclose new inventions to the public, so that additional innovations can be made faster

cspB RNA chaperone

droughtguard corn hybrids

phase 2

early development

Describe one example of how plants can be used to produce medically important proteins

ebola in tobacco

Explain a biotech strategy to improve the efficiency of producing renewable liquid fuels

engineering dedicated bioenergy crops to produce higher yields with lower inputs

What example does Dr. Rathore give as a possible method for adding low gossypol cotton to a human diet

enrich flours with more protein

Genetic improvements are a proven strategy to increase productivity regardless of cropping system, with the initial transgenic crops targeted to _________ as the primary market, instead of the end users.

farmers

sub1 transcription factor

flooding tolerant rice

Discover

gene/trait id

What is one recent scientific advance that could reduce the time and/or cost to develop new agricultural biotechnology products, and why?

genomics for gene discovery and even characterization, genome editing for increasing efficiency of modifications, phenomics for detailed information about crop performance in field

Modifications to plant seed oils

healthier foods, both decreasing unsaturated oils to form trans fats

alter root architecture

improved nutrient uptake

reduce photorespiration

increase photosynthetic effieciency

How has biotech created the novel flower color and variations in shade shown to the right

increasing expression of biosynthesis enzymes for anthocyanin pigments

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors to the US and global economy providing what?

jobs, income, and food stability

Virus resistant cassava

kenya

Most of the technology advances in both agriculture and biotechnology are developed by publicly-supported research, which is then shared or _________ to for-profit institutions for commercialization.

licensed

The development of agricultural biotechnology products is very expensive, this is why corporations are the _____ developers and has led to consolidation within the ag biotech industry.

main

cold and drought tolerant maize

mexico

How much revenue does the US cotton industry produce

more than $25 billion

What two must an invention meet to be awarded a patent

must be novel and useful

In ag biotech, the most realistic estimates of ___________ are obtained when adjusted for certain risk factors.

net present value

What is one major factor driving consolidations in biotech

new companies combine strengths in seeds and ag chemicals

increasing purple anthocyanin pigments

novel varieties of flowers

Why have large corporations been the primary developers of transgenic crops?

only large corporations have possessed the capital and financial resources to invest in developing expensive new tech and products. They were already established

The projected increases in ____________ and demand for food, feed, energy, and fiber are primary drivers for the next wave of agricultural biotechnology products.

population growth

phase 4

prelaunch

phase I

proof of concept

in india

protests abt health or environmental risks to national and state government ministries that must approve the growth of gm crops

What step of the agricultural biotech product progress is the most costly?

regulatory

In africa

rejection of gm maize donated as food aid during 2002 famine in zambia

How do developers envision this product will be marketed to cotton farmers

released as a stand-alone trait in public varieties with an identity preservation system. Eventually added to private breeding programs and introduced to GM varieties

Herbicide-resistant weeds are a concern. what can developers of transgenic crop varieties do to help

research to identify new herbicides and resistant traits

overexpressed coat protein

resistance to plant viruses

An idealistic view of "_____________" with organic farming has some production and marketing benefits on a small scale, but its lower production efficiency is not competitive in global markets.

returning to nature

The successful transgenic performance in the field, regulatory approval and societal acceptance

risk factors (r) and net present value (rNPV)

How long will product development take and how much will it cost?

upwards of ten years and tens of millions of dollars

What is identity preservation. Why could it be important for ULGCS and how could it be implemented

what - closed loop supply chains that track and verify quality characteristics throughout the chain Why - preserves the value for all participants How - producing gossypol tests to ensure the seed is now producing any

Can the transgenic organisms be created that provide benefits or solutions to important/expensive problems?

yes