Engineering better biofuels: The prospects of

biotechnology in SSA

Ivar Virgin Stockholm Environment

Institute (SEI)

Could biotechnology contribute to solving productivity and yield stability in developing

countries?

Molecular Breeding- A Palette of Technologies Revolutionizing Breeding...

Molecular diagnostics to provide, accurate and quicker identification of plants pathogens. Tissue culture to enable mass propagation of improved and disease-free planting material Molecular breeding and marker assisted selection to identify and evaluate desirable traits in breeding programmes Gene technology/genetic modifications to introduce of one or more genes, often across species barriers into plants,, conferring potentially useful traits into crop plants Functional genomics/structural genomics: molecular characterisation of genes and the connection of traits with their respective genes, increasing opportunities to target interventions in breeding

Gene technology a toolbox for more efficient and more precise breeding and tailor made bioresource production systems ......and the development just begun!

USD/genome

2001 500 MUSD

2007 1 MUSD

2008 100 000 USD

2012 1000 USD

2020 1000 USD

The bioscience revolution moves faster and faster …. It took 300 researchers 10 years to sequence the human genome, which today would take 1 researcher 1 week!!!!

What is in the pipeline?

Soon (2-5 years) GM crops with:.... •Improved nutrional composition(e.g Golden rice

• Altered oil compositions

•More effecient nutrient uptake

•Improved drought tolerance...

Further away (10-20 years):.... •Perennial crops.

•More efficient phototosynthesis

•Unlocking the genetic switch....

...More resource efficient crops

Plants are chemical factories

Moving the chemical factory to the fields........

2010 2030 ?

Production of non food/feed agricultural products increasing!

• Development of agroindustrial production systems producing:

- biofuels, fibres, starch products, -“green” chemicals”, biodegradable plastics, oils and

lubricants -detergents, enzymes, cosmetics, fragrances and

flavours, medicinal products • In the US, massive investments in new biofuel crop

production systems(switchgrass, mischantus...man made prairie)

Production of diesel and jetfuel directly in the plant

To radically changesthe metabolism of cells requires changing expression of genes encoding for transkriptionsfactors

Transkriptionsfactors =Director

Genes coding for specific enzymes

New types of oil producing crops

Identifying the genetic switch between oil, starch, proteins opens the possibility to develop new type of highly productive oil crops

Sunlight+ CO2 + H20 =

oils

Wheat Corn

Future oil crops through gene technology

Sugar beats

…? The prospect of biotechnology

sub-Saharan Africa

The prospects of biotechnology in SSA

• Using local ”African” crops highly adopted to agroecological conditions which can give decent yields under rainfed conditions with limited input.....

Some of the prospects...

•Sweet sorghum, cassava, sweet potato ...: Using biosciences/genetic engineering to increase sugar contents and disease resitance...improving genetic base for breeding

•New programmes for finding new African biofuel crops

Collaboration platforms helps!

Regional and international collaboration, public-private partnerships and multidisciplinary innovation platforms....... ensuring that the new biosciences benefit Small holder farmers in Africa.

The BIO-EARN Programme 1998-2010 Building Bioscience Platforms in

Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania

The Bio-Innovate Program

contributions to the Eastern Africa

Bio-economy

Thank you for listening!!

For more information please contact

ivar.virgin@sei.se