The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a $649,916 Project Grant to Oregon State University under the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research (BRAG) program (CFDA 10.219). The grant supports research to develop improved tools for excising transgenes used in genetic engineering, particularly for plants like forest trees that are difficult to genetically modify and have high ecological impacts. The research will: 1) create novel recombinase target sites...
This $650,000 Project Grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) under the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research (BRAG) Program (CFDA 10.219), supports the development of tools and frameworks to assist in the threat assessment of genetically engineered microorganisms (GEMs) for agricultural applications. The key objectives of the "STRATAGEM" project are to develop a standardized suite of DNA watermarking and laboratory...
The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Purdue University a $499,959 Project Grant under the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research program (CFDA 10.219) to quantify gene flow in managed and unmanaged honey bee populations across the United States from August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2026. The grant supports research to generate new information to assist USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - Biotechnology Regulatory Services in regulating...
Purdue University was awarded a $1.5 million Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative federal grant program (CFDA 10.307) for the period of September 1, 2022 through August 31, 2026. The grant aims to quantify the effects of bio-intensified field crop rotations in the Upper Midwest region upon pest management and crop yields. Purdue will conduct research to...
This $649,847 Project Grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) under the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program (CFDA 10.219). The grant funds research to understand how pests overcome plant resistance traits conferred by engineered genes, and develop a monitoring framework to improve the durability of transgenic crops. The research focuses on characterizing the role of gene copy number variants (CNVs) in...
The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded a $649,818 Project Grant under the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants (BRAG) program (CFDA 10.219) to the Old Dominion University Research Foundation (doing business as Odurf) to assess the potential for horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from genetically engineered (GE) cyanobacteria to soil-environmental bacteria and risk group-2 microorganisms. The research team will measure the rates of HGT,...
The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) awarded a $650,000 Project Grant under the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research (BRAG) program (CFDA 10.219) to North Carolina State University. The project aims to genetically engineer tomato plants to produce CRISPR pollen that can destroy seed development in non-genetically engineered tomato plants, thereby limiting pollen-mediated gene flow from genetically engineered to non-genetically engineered...
This $225,000 Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) aims to engineer improved plant genetic engineering capabilities. The key objectives are to: Develop a toolkit for making modifications to various Agrobacterium strains, including those commonly used and novel wild-type strains, to enhance the efficiency and applicability of plant genetic engineering processes....
Purdue University was awarded a $717,806 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) federal grant program. The three-year award running from May 1, 2023 to April 30, 2026 will fund research to develop dry surface biofilm models of foodborne pathogens Cronobacter sakazakii, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella enterica. Purdue University will evaluate current sanitation...
The Regents of the University of Minnesota, through its Office of Sponsored Projects Administration, was awarded a $551,099 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research (BRAG) program (CFDA 10.219). The grant will fund a 3-year study to investigate the potential for unintended changes due to CRISPR/Cas9 genetic modifications of multiple gene copies or gene family members in soybeans. The...