Information Systems for Biotechnology (ISB) News Report
October 2004

PARTIAL TABLE OF CONTENTS (links are to the ISB News Report website)

• The Development Of The D-amino Acid Selectable Marker System
  Oskar Erikson & Torgny Näsholm
   
• T7 RNA Polymerase-Based Overexpression of Foreign Genes in Plants
  Vanga Siva Reddy
   
• HOS9 Mediated Cold Acclimation Outside the CBF Regulon
  Ray A. Bressan, Jianhua Zhu, Paul M. Hasegawa
  The genetic basis for plant cold tolerance, that is, which genes are needed to convey cold tolerance to plants, has been a long standing goal of plant scientists. Two general molecular genetic approaches toward achieving this goal have been implemented in the past decade or two using the model plant Arabidopsis.
   
• Plant-made Pharmaceuticals: Progress and Protests
  Phillip BC Jones
  For over a decade, researchers have devised methods for producing genetically modified (GM) plants that synthesize therapeutically active proteins and industrial chemicals, a technology known as plant molecular farming or biopharming. Hailing the technology as the next wave in biotech, supporters claim that the biopharm industry may be worth $100 billion by 2015. This enthusiasm stems from the conviction that biopharming can provide a means to manufacture therapeutic compounds and chemicals at lower cost and in greater amounts than conventional techniques. The past half year brought signs that justify such optimism.

Full report in HTML format: http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2004/news04.Oct.html    
Full report in PDF format: http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2004/oct04.pdf