Jan. 26, 2001

TEXAS A&M REGENTS DESIGNATE PLANT GENOMICS INSTITUTE

COLLEGE STATION – The Institute for Plant Genomics and Biotechnology was established today by the Texas A&M University Board of Regents meeting at Texas A&M-Galveston, replacing what had been known as the Crop Biotechnology Center.

The new institute will be based in the Norman E. Borlaug Center for Southern Crop Improvement at Texas A&M.

"Over the last eight years we have been building programs and facilities," said Dr. John Mullet, who has directed the center and will retain that title for the institute. "The organization had grown in complexity and function so that it will now best operate as an institute."

The institute status will enable affiliated researchers from multiple units to carry out multi-disciplinary projects with statewide impact, Mullet said.

"Genomics is a large scale scientific enterprise that involves dealing with whole genomes that often contain 25,000-100,000 genes," Mullet said. "In order to do that type of research well, it requires robotics, expensive instrumentation and large teams of researchers working together. And that is one thing the institute is organized to do."

Already scientists there have been working on two projects – TxCOT and TxGRAIN – and several national crop genome projects involving researchers from other universities in collaborative research. Mullet said the expansion of the center as a recognized institute will further that goal and extend to many more new projects.

"Genomics opens a new era for biological sciences," he said. "We see that information source (genomics) as being key to doing things that Texas A&M has historically been good at doing – crop breeding, crop improvement and fundamental science, for example."

Mullet also said the institute will focus on developing a new type of technology – DNA chips and DNA microarrays that are derived directly from genome sequencing.

"This is where the DNA sequences for each gene are placed on a glass slide or a silicon chip and used to see what a plant or animal genome is doing digitally," Mullet said. "DNA diagnostic technology represents a huge opportunity in agriculture for identifying plants that have valuable but complex traits that are difficult to identify with other technology. So, the organization into an institute will allow us to move forward on this technology at a more rapid rate."

Being able to move quickly is vital in this growing field of research, he noted.

"Genomics in the United States is an area or branch of science that is clearly expanding," Mullet said. "The recent publication of the entire sequence of the first plant genome containing 25,000 genes provides a new information source that we can use to improve agriculture and make progress on complex problems such as drought tolerance, durable disease resistance and quality traits."

The institute and the Borlaug Center will provide infrastructure and a focal point for plant researchers working on genomics and related life science technologies. This will help scientists and crop breeders in the Texas A&M University System obtain access to cutting edge technology in this area, he added.

Mullet also noted that genomics is a very competitive field, so having an institute with excellent laboratory facilities will help Texas A&M recruit and retain top-notch scientists.