A new $22 million Plant Biotechnology Building is now at the heart of the University of Tennessee’s efforts into this complex realm of scientific research.

Dedicated on October 16, the facility is expected to enhance instruction, research and technology transfer programs and thus generate new products and industries and expand markets and demand for Tennessee's agricultural products and enterprises.

James McElroy, president of the Tennessee Biotechnology Association, was among the speakers at the dedication. He praised the foresight of the building’s planners. “The opening of this building is one of the most important events in the development of the state’s biotechnology industry,” he said. The association anticipates that the graduates from the academic programs and the technological advances developed by UT faculty will fuel the development of biotech industry.

“These companies tend to develop in clusters, and an academic research institution is always at the center of the development,” McElroy said.

Plant biotechnology research is enabling the production of foods with special health benefits such as genetically engineered potatoes used to make a cancer-fighting vaccine, golden rice with added beta carotene to prevent blindness, and lycopene-enhanced tomatoes. Research programs at UT will focus on plant breeding and genetics, plant and plant-stress physiology, pest management, molecular biology, and renewable energy.

The building is located in on the UT Institute of Agriculture campus in Knoxville. Total space in the facility measures 130,000 square feet, and 81,000 square feet is assignable as classrooms, laboratories and offices. Including the assignable space in the present Ellington Plant Sciences Building, the institute is almost tripling its teaching and research facilities dedicated to horticulture and forestry.

Dr. Jack Britt, UT vice president for agriculture, presided over the dedication. "This new facility will have a tremendous impact on the ability of our scientists to compete worldwide for funding as well as for the best students and scholars to work in plant biotechnology in Tennessee," said Britt.

He added that as the only such facility in Tennessee, the building will be a real benefit for UT students. More than 500 students are in majors among the departments that will be the primary users of the building. The facility features state-of-the-art teaching laboratories and the latest developments in instructional technology, including Internet access from individual seats in a tiered lecture hall.

The plant biotechnology building is the "crown jewel" of a $38 million, three-building complex that has been added to the UT agricultural campus since 1999. Other components include the Joseph E. Johnson Animal and Teaching Unit and the Tennessee Forest Products Laboratory. Federal and state funding were used to construct the new buildings, which have been on the drawing board for more than a decade.

Invited guests from across the state and around the world attended the dedication, which also served as the kickoff event for an international scientific symposium related to woody plant biotechnology and genomics.

The woody plant biotechnology symposium continued on Friday, October 17. Dr. C. S. Prakash, director of the Tuskegee University Center for Plant Biotechnology Research, was the featured speaker. Prakash is internationally known for his research on food crops and for his outreach efforts regarding the impact of biotechnology on society and the world's food supply. His presentation “Designer Trees and Frankenfoods” explored global concerns about plant biotechnology.

In his talk, Prakash said that the scientific community has not adequately addressed public concerns about genetically modified plants and trees. “Nor have we communicated the value of the technology,” he said. “More than 10,000 food products contain genetic modifications, but there has not been a single instance of hazard.”

An advocate of biotechnology research and development, Prakash asked the audience to imagine feeding the world’s 6 billion people without biotech advances, and he reminded them that while population estimates are on the rise, the amount of land in production cannot increase without negatively impacting the world’s forest resources. According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the world population will exceed 7 billion in ten years.