Genetic engineering of food crops was front and center in the media once again over the last few months.  Following the defeat of the genetically-modified (GM) foods labeling initiative in California (Proposition 37), long time anti-GM activist and journalist Mark Lynas apologized for his past activities and hailed genetic engineering as an important tool to help meet the nutritional demands of a growing global population.  His lecture to the Oxford Farming Conference can be viewed or read in its entirety here: http://bit.ly/UyBbfj.  

An op/ed article in Forbes, "Can a Rose Catch Your Cold? Threat of 'Killer' Viral Plant Gene Is Latest Anti-GMO Rant [http://onforb.es/WOxksP]”, discussed a recent campaign against genetic engineering based on a paper published in GM Crops and Food: Biotechnology in Agriculture and the Food Chain [http://bit.ly/Ya8aln]. The authors, Podevin and du Jardin, examine the possible expression of portions of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) P6 gene that overlaps with the CaMV 35S promoter used to drive gene expression in many GM crops. Anti-GM advocates warn that expression of portions of P6 in biotech crops would have "serious ramifications for crop biotechnology and its regulation, but possibly even greater ones for consumers and farmers" (Independent Science News [http://bit.ly/VDHxoy]).  

In a win for genetic engineering advocates, the Philippines have given the green light for distribution of golden rice—genetically modified to produce enhanced levels of vitamin A and expected to combat Vitamin A deficiency— to farmers.  The Guardian article, "After 30 years, is a GM food breakthrough finally here?” [http://bit.ly/XnUpii] features ASPB members Cathie Martin and Jonathan Jones.  Cathie is quoted on the subject of excessive regulation, stating "At institutes like ours, we can prioritise research to bring new consumer health benefits and environmental benefits to market [via GM], as long as the regulatory process is not prohibitively expensive for publicly funded organizations;” whereas Jonathan touches on the safety record of genetically engineered crops, "When I started making GM plants 30 years ago I did wonder if there might be unknown unknowns. But the evidence now is clear. GM food and crops are as safe as non-GM food and crops.”  According to the article, distribution of golden rice is also under consideration in India and other unnamed nations.  

Articles on the science news website, Science Daily, recently featured several ASPB members, including: Zhiyong Wang, scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science, and Patricia Springer, associate professor of genetics at the University of California, Riverside, for their work connecting brassinosteriod function to plant architecture (http://bit.ly/11HJdEG); José Dinneny, also at Carnegie, for his lab’s real time imaging of root growth to demonstrate a role for the endodermis and abscisic acid in guarding against root growth in inhospitable environments, recently published in The Plant Cell (http://bit.ly/Y8yaO2); Robert Turgeon, professor at Cornell University, for demonstrating the involvement of SCARECROW in Kranz anatomy, which underlies the improved photosynthetic efficiency of C4 plants (http://bit.ly/YBdGzy); Elison Blancaflor, professor at the Samuel Roberts Nobel Foundation, for his review of the current hypotheses on gravitropism (http://bit.ly/Y8zfp7); John Shanklin and Xiaohong Yu, at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, for creating a bifunctional enzyme for efficient biofuel production (http://bit.ly/11RkzNe); and David Jackson, professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, for his lab’s work on boosting corn yields by increasing meristem size. David's lab found specific mutations in the gene FEA2 that lead to increased numbers of kernels. (http://bit.ly/WP0JzW). 

Additionally Lee Hadwiger, professor at Washington State University, was featured in a Capital Press article for his work on using fungal DNases to elicit plant immunity (http://bit.ly/WZZdhf).   Finally, as pollution continues to throw curveballs at our crops, ASPB members Lisa Ainsworth and Andrew Leakey of the University of Illinois aim to generate an ozone-tolerant maize variety with the help of a recently awarded, multi-million dollar NSF grant.  Don Ort is also quoted in the Daily Illini article [http://bit.ly/14RSgCz] on the current possibility of transferring ozone resistance to field varieties of corn.

If you or your colleagues have been featured in the news and would like to be included in the next issue of ASPB News, please contact ASPB’s Associate Director of Public Affairs, Kathy Munkvold (kmunkvold@aspb.org).

An article in Forbes, "Can A Rose Catch Your Cold? Threat Of 'Killer' Viral Plant Gene Is Latest Anti-GMO Rant”, discusses recent news from the anti-GMO front. Activists have latched onto a paper exploring an overlapping gene in the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter that is used to drive expression of genes in many GM crops. The overlapping viral gene is responsible for the expression the P6 protein that is required for pathogenesis and inhibits viral silencing.  Here is a link to the original paper: http://www.es.landesbioscience.com/journals/gmcrops/article/21406/?show_full_text=true&.   

After reading the paper by Podevin and du Jardin, do you think it’s likely that expression of portions of P6 in biotech crops would have "serious ramifications for crop biotechnology and its regulation, but possibly even greater ones for consumers and farmers" (Independent Science News)?

Links:

Forbes: Can A Rose Catch Your Cold? Threat Of 'Killer' Viral Plant Gene Is Latest Anti-GMO Rant http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2013/01/30/can-your-rose-bush-catch-your-cold-threat-of-killer-viral-plant-gene-is-the-latest-anti-gmo-activist-rant/

Podevin, N. and du Jardin, P. (2012) Possible consequences of the overlap between the CaMV 35S promoter regions in plant transformation vectors used and the viral gene VI in transgenic plants. GM Crops and Food: Biotechnology in Agriculture and the Food Chain 3:4, 296-300. http://www.es.landesbioscience.com/journals/gmcrops/2012GMC0020R.pdf

Independent Science News: Regulators Discover a Hidden Viral Gene in Commercial GMO Crops http://independentsciencenews.org/commentaries/regulators-discover-a-hidden-viral-gene-in-commercial-gmo-crops/

The Global Plant Council (GPC) is a coalition of 29 national plant and crop science organizations as well as plant breeding societies from around the world (http://globalplantcouncil.org). The key objective of the GPC is to increase the impact of plant and crop research to address global challenges and to make society and world leaders more aware of the important contributions that improved crop plants and the fundamental research that underpins their development can make to achieve food security and sustainable agriculture.

GPC has developed a Strategic Research Agenda identifying nine challenges for global societies and economies ("GPC Challenges for Global Action”) as priority areas of activity to which plant research and breeding can contribute.

In the next few years GPC will focus on promoting and advocating strategic and internationally competitive research and development via targeted research programs, embracing innovation, education and communication including general policy statements. To support these activities, GPC is seeking to employ a highly motivated and dynamic

Executive Director

The Executive Director (60% position) will report to the GPC Executive Board and work closely with the GPC Executive Board, the GPC President, and the GPC member societies in the successful execution of policies, programs and procedures established by the GPC. She/he will be the primary contact person for the GPC member societies in issues related to GPC and will have full authority in the overall administration and management/coordination of activities related to the GPC Challenges for Global Action. The Executive Director will oversee the effective utilization of the GPC financial resources and she/he will be actively involved in raising funds for support of GPC operations and programs.

The Executive Director must be objective and balanced in relation to different GPC member societies’ policies, the interests of the research community, and constraints in different parts of the world in advancing the GPC Challenges for Global Action. She/he must be able to explore, develop and maintain a robust network of contacts at national/international organizations and private/public funding agencies/foundations that support plant research and agricultural development.

GPC is looking for a candidate with the following profile:

• A thorough understanding of science, with a Master or PhD degree in plant science and/or crop breeding

• Knowledge and preferably experience of working with science societies and international organizations

• Familiarity with research and innovation funding programs

• Experience working in a global environment

• Excellent communication and impacting skills with a thorough knowledge of English; other languages are a plus

• Ability to act as an entrepreneur and acquire third party funding

• Experience in project coordination and management skills

• Ability to analyze complex situations, draw appropriate conclusions, and develop strategies for solutions and their implementation

• Experience in advising policy makers on plant and crop research activities and policies strongly preferred

In her/his daily work, the GPC Executive Director will:

• Assess priorities according to objectives

• Represent GPC at meetings, conferences, and high level events with professionalism, commitment, and enthusiasm, projecting a positive image of plant science as a whole and the involvement of the GPC member societies

• develop updated and structured information and presentations about GPC, its member societies, objectives, activities, success rate, and events, as well as about related issues at institutional level
• develop and distribute on a regular basis communication material about GPC activities to both member societies and external stakeholders

• Engage a network at the institutional level that is constantly enlarged at all levels.

• establish and keep contacts with other international organizations (e.g., FAO, CGIAR, WHO, IPCC)

• Be fully updated on major national and international initiatives in plant/crop research and breeding

• be informed and informs GPC members about relevant funding programs
• lead GPC initiatives in assessing relevant research programs
• assess interest and priorities of opportunities for GPC in related areas

• Look for/create opportunities to promote GPC and plant research and breeding

• Organize events (e.g., GPC annual meeting, workshops) to promote GPC Challenges for Global Action

• Manage and control the GPC budget

Candidates interested in this position are requested to send a PDF of their motivation letter including a detailed CV, preferred work venue (from home or in the office of a GPC member organization or some combination) and salary expectations to the Global Plant Council at jobs@epsomail.org by 10 February 2013 (Subject line: GPC Executive Director Position).

Only complete applications will be considered.

Additional country- and continent-specific requirements:

Europe: Work permit required for non-EU citizens.

U.S.: Only permanent residents and citizens may apply

The National Academies, Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR) is planning a study on workforce needs in agriculture.  The excerpt below was taken directly from the inaugural BANR newsletter.

Workforce Needs in Agriculture
A strong and well-trained workforce in U.S. agriculture is necessary for the nation to meet the challenges of maintaining long-term adequacy of food, feed, fiber and biofuels. Although the United States has been a leader in global agricultural development, there are concerns that not enough skilled technical workers have been trained to meet the growing demands of the agricultural sciences. BANR proposes to convene a series of workshops under the framework of a consensus study to examine available data on students trained in the United States in various disciplines relevant to agriculture, assess information on agricultural workforce needs of academia, federal agencies and industry, and to discuss the education and training needs and how to attract future students to agricultural sciences.

Although there is anecdotal evidence of a shortage of a skilled agricultural workforce, the workforce pipeline is not well characterized. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Education might have data on students trained in agriculture, but the available data are not necessarily organized in a way that would facilitate an assessment of workforce supply. On the demand side, the quantities of trained personnel needed and the expertise and skill required to fill jobs in industry, government, and academe have not been well-documented. The workforce needs range from BS graduates, for example, to conduct field work and studies, MS graduates to carry out a management plan, and Ph.D. researchers and project managers. The workforce needs for academia, federal agencies, and industry are likely to differ by disciplines, skill sets, and experience.

Collecting information on workforce supply and demand and getting representatives from different types of institutional employers to interpret the data would be a first step towards workforce planning in agriculture. A discussion of possible ways to attract students to agricultural and food science now would be helpful in addressing any gaps between workforce supply and demand in the future. The ultimate goal is to get "the right number of people with the right skills, experiences, and competencies in the right jobs at the right time” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). To bring national focus to the issue of workforce planning in agriculture, the NRC proposes to conduct a study encompassing a series of workshops. The first would focus on the needs related to plant sciences; the second on animal science and production; other workshop would cover additional fields and industry sectors.


For more information on BANR's projects-in-development, send an email to Robin Schoen - rschoen@nas.edu

The Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Biological Systems Science Division is seeking a Microbiologist.  Please see the description below or at USA jobs: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/332057200

Job Title: Microbiologist

Department: Department Of Energy

Job Announcement Number: 13-DE-SC-HQ-004

SALARY RANGE: $89,033.00 to$155,500.00 / Per Year

OPEN PERIOD: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 to Tuesday, December 11, 2012

SERIES & GRADE: GS-0403-13/15

POSITION INFORMATION: Full-time – Permanent

WHO MAY BE CONSIDERED: All current U. S. citizens.

The Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Biological Systems Science Division, is seeking a motivated and highly qualified individual to serve as the microbiologist responsible for all aspects of the program consisting of microbial genomics and microbial physiology research.

If selected for this position, at the full performance level, you will:

1. Serve as a recognized technical authority and expert in microbial genomics and microbial physiology, and as such, have the responsibility to plan, coordinate, implement, and evaluate research programs in this field on a national and international level.
2. You will serve as an expert and consultant to other biologists, scientists, and senior management in areas of assigned responsibility and serve as a Program Manager determining scientific focus and direction of the microbial genomics and microbial physiology aspects of the research program.
3. You will examine and ascertain pioneering research needs and opportunities of the genomics research programs against scientific and technological advances and of potential needs of the DOE.
4. You will prepare, justify, and support the portions of the budget relation to the microbial genomics and microbial physiology research and critically evaluate contractor, DOE laboratory, and grantee research proposals and performance.
5. You will critically review reports and studies prepared by other offices in DOE and other Federal agencies as they impact the microbial genomics and Microbial physiology programs and develop and prepare analytical documents to communicate with top management.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

· Must be a U.S. citizen

· All basic qualifications must be met by the closing date of announcement.

· Requires the successful completion of a background investigation.

· All documents must be submitted by 11:59 pm on closing date of announcement

· Must submit transcripts or course listing by 11:59pm on closing date.

· Males born after 12/31/59 must certify registration with the Selective Svc.

AAAS/Science Live presents - The Genes We Eat
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencelive/

A
As you pack in another mouthful of mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, consider the thousands of years of domestication that turned the wild potato and other staple crops such as corn into a tasty traditional meal. Thanks to the genetic revolution, we now know more than ever before about the evolution of our favorite foods, and we have the power to shape their future by introducing genes that increase resistance against disease, drought, and pests.

However, many worry that these advances could also result in risks to our health and the environment. How should scientists address these fears? How will the foods of the future differ from those of the past? And how will the controversy about GM foods play out over the next decade? 

See how genomics experts Hans-Jörg Jacobsen and Jordi Garcia-Mas tackle these questions. Find us on Twitter at #ScienceLive. And don't forget, this and other chats are archived. 

Each year the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) presents the Borlaug CAST Communication Award for "outstanding achievement by a scientist, engineer, technologist, or other professional working in the agricultural, environmental, or food sectors for contributing to the advancement of science in the public policy arena.”

Nominations are due February 1, 2013. Nomination packets must include the following:

• the enclosed nomination form, completed and scanned
• a curriculum vitae of the nominee
• a written statement of the candidate’s ability to disseminate research findings to the public that includes a list of pertinent publications, public speaking engagements, television and/or radio appearances, or other media activities within the past five years
• a minimum of five (5) letters of support in PDF form in which the references assess the candidate’s ability to communicate science to the public. The nominator may be included as one of the five required references.

Email nomination packets to cast@cast-science.org.

More info at http://www.cast-science.org/borlaug_cast_communication_award/

ASPB president, Steve Huber, and executive director, Crispin Taylor, were featured in the May issue of International Innovation, a science and technology magazine based in Europe. The article focuses on ASPB as an organization, highlighting its roles as a publisher of two leading plant biology journals, Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell, the textbook, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants, and the online resource, The Arabidopsis Book; an educator, providing resources such as Teaching Tools in Plant Biology and educational outreach to teachers and students from kindergarten to graduate school; and in enabling relationships among plant biologists worldwide through the ASPB annual meeting.

The article also emphasized ASPB’s evolution in supporting an ever changing field of plant biology, where new subdisciplines continue to emerge and the borders of traditional subdisciplines have begun to blur. It also stresses the importance of ASPB’s public affairs initiatives in keeping "Congress and the Executive Branch informed about the benefits of investments in fundamental plant science research.”

To read the entire article, visit the following website to register for free access: http://www.research-europe.com/index.php/international-innovation/?wlfrom=%2Findex.php%2Fdigital_magazine%2F.

Articles on the science news website, Science Daily, recently featured a long list of ASPB members, including: Sheng Yang He, professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at Michigan State University, for his lab’s work on the balance between plant growth and pest and pathogen resistance (http://bit.ly/LdiFyJ); Takato Imaizumi, assistant professor of biology at the University of Washington, for his lab’s work on a photoreceptor involved in flowering time, recently published in Science (http://bit.ly/Ljfk30); Joseph Noel, professor and director of the Jack H. Skirball Center for Chemical Biology and Proteomics at the Salk Institute, and Eve Syrkin Wurtele, professor of genetics, development and cell biology at Iowa State University, for their identification of three proteins involved in fatty acid metabolism, recently published in Nature, that could be used to boost seed oil production of crop plants (http://bit.ly/KOFtcs); Michael Thomashow, director of the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory also at Michigan State University, for his lab’s work on the connection between circadian rhythms and freezing tolerance (http://bit.ly/KDxeAx); and Tom Brutnell, director of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and Jeff Bennetzen, professor of genetics at the University of Georgia, for their work in sequencing the Setaria genome, to be used as a reference genome for switchgrass (http://bit.ly/NVXnZb).

Interviews with ASPB members, Sharon Long (http://bit.ly/LDznrx), professor of biology at Stanford University, and Pamela Ronald (http://bit.ly/JS4n5x), professor of plant pathology at the University of California, Davis, were featured on Scientific American Blogs in April. The series included graduate student interviews with leading women biologists from the Women in Science Symposium held at Cornell University in April.

Tomatoes were the "it” plant in the media recently as the tomato genome was published in Nature in May. Both the New York Times (http://nyti.ms/KDxTC6) and the Washington Post (http://wapo.st/LdjR5i) featured Jim Giovannoni, a scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and USDA-ARS, in articles on the genomic sequences of a Heinz tomato variety and a wild relative of tomato. Avtar Handa, professor of horticulture at Purdue University, was featured in the New York Times blog, Green (http://nyti.ms/NW2kkD), for his work on finding a genetic cure for blossom end rot of tomato, a condition resulting in economic losses in tomato production.

In keeping with the tomato theme, Harry Klee, professor of horticulture at the University of Florida, in addition to being recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences, was featured on the Wired Science Blog (http://bit.ly/LDAPua) and National Public Radio’s food blog, the Salt (http://n.pr/K5qKt8), for his lab’s recent work published in Current Biology on the chemical basis of tomato flavor. Harry was also interviewed in an article appearing in the The Scientist (http://bit.ly/K5qYAy) on making a successful transition from industry to academia, something that he also wrote about in Plant Physiology in 2001 (http://bit.ly/MnTsoG).

ASPB President Elect, Peggy Lemaux also appeared in an article on the Salt (http://n.pr/KoE0pl) concerning California’s upcoming referendum on modified food labeling. Work from Mark Johnson’s laboratory on the precision of fertilization of a single ovule by a single pollen tube, recently published in Current Biology, was featured in a New York Times article (http://nyti.ms/MnTY65). Mark is an associate professor of biology at Brown University. And BBC News reported on (http://bbc.in/LD9PZH) the release of What a Plant Knows, a book by ASPB member, Daniel Chamovitz, Director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University, on how plants perceive and respond to their environment.

"From Around the Web” represents a subset of the plant biology in the news posted on ASPB’s Plants in the News Blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. To stay up to date, subscribe to the blog (www.aspb.org/plantsinthenews), "like” us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/myASPB), and "follow” us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ASPB).

ASPB Invited Back to Host Science Outreach at the White House

Society ‘Hops to It’ to Bring Plant Biology to 2012 Easter Egg Roll

By Katie Engen and Kathy Munkvold

On Monday, April 9, ASPB returned to the White House to host a plant science outreach booth as part of the 134^th Easter Egg Roll. A traditional event started in 1878 by President Rutherford B. and Lucy Hayes, the Easter Egg Roll soon became known as an exhilarating day of play for everyone. This year’s theme, "Let's go. Let's play. Let's move," embodied that same high-energy spirit. From 7:30 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. some 30,000 visitors (in five waves of 6,000 people) from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. hopped, strolled, sprinted, and rolled across the South Lawn to all the activities, sports, and games.

At midday the Obama Family and Easter Bunny greeted the crowd from the White House South Portico then joined the fun on the South Lawn. The First Lady spoke at the Kids' Kitchen with weather guru Al Roker, Chef Marcus Samuelsson, and three children about gardening and how fresh, seasonal eating is a healthy goal everyone should aim to achieve. Afterwards Mrs. Obama greeted members of the crowd, including ASPB President Steve Huber and several others who were volunteering in the ASPB booth. Steve shook the First Lady’s hand while wearing a lab apron bearing the ASPB name, and Mrs. Obama indicated she recognized the Society. Steve thanked her for all her effective efforts to promote health and nutrition, pleased that such a brief encounter sparked a positive comment for ASPB.

Inside the ASPB ‘Quick-Like-a-Bunny’ booth youngsters sowed lettuce, carrot, and radish seeds to start mini garden cups full of yummy bunny- and kid-friendly food. These quick-germinating vegetable seeds were selected since they provide nutritious foods that help brains and bodies act quick-like-a-bunny, too. Volunteers from the Society guided the young visitors to assemble garden cups and chat about what seeds are, how plants develop, and the many ways plants are important in daily life. For example, many families were pleased to learn that the garden cups and lids were made not from regular plastic but with recyclable corn-based material. Overall, booth visitors were very eager to dig in to all the biology concepts we offered, a response our volunteers especially appreciated since ASPB was the only scientific society hosting an activity on the South Lawn this year.

We really had to ‘hop to it’ to keep pace with the crowd of youngsters eager to make garden cups and talk about plants. Staff representatives Katie Engen, Shoshana Kronfeld, Diane McCauley, Kathy Munkvold, and Crispin Taylor are grateful for the expertise and energy volunteered by the Society members and associates who joined ASPB President Steve Huber for a fun and productive day. Thank you: Andrew Auffarth, Briana Bostic, Elena Del Campillo, Brennah Engen, Joan Huber, Melantha Jackson, Samuel Jones, Daniela Parker, James Parker, Janet Slovin, Clare Taylor, Cynthia Taylor, Dylan Taylor, Emma Taylor, George Ude, and Maria Elena Zavala.

Well-deserved thanks also goes to the six volunteers from the general public assigned to our booth by the White House. The booth benefited from their energetic efforts, and each volunteer learned a bit about plant biology, too.

For more photos, please see our Facebook site at: www.facebook.com/myASPB.

The University of Southern California (USC) announced the appointment of ASPB member Steve Kay as dean of the Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Kay currently serves as Dean and Richard C. Atkinson Chair in the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, where he also holds the title of Distinguished Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology. His appointment as dean at USC officially begins October 1, 2012.

Kay has been honored for his pioneering research in the genetics of the circadian rhythms of plants by his selection to the National Academy of Sciences in 2008, as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow in 2009, and as the recipient of the ASPB Martin Gibbs Medal in 2011. Steve will be speaking at the Martin Gibbs Medal Symposium on Clock Biology at the Plant Biology 2012 meeting in Austin, Texas on July 22 (http://austin2012.aspb.org/).

Congratulations to Steve on his new position!

Links:

• USC News: http://news.usc.edu/#!/article/34248/kay-named-new-dean-of-usc-dornsife/
• Kay Lab Website: http://www.biology.ucsd.edu/labs/kay/

ASPB Returns for More Science Outreach at the White House

Plant biologists help kids learn how plants impact their lives during Easter Egg Roll

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) returns today to the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. to offer science activities for kids as part of the 2012 White House Easter Egg Roll. About 35,000 entry ticket winners representing all 50 states will enjoy the 134^th occurrence of this annual event.

The theme of this year’s Easter Egg Roll is "Let's Go, Let's Play, Let's Move!" and is aimed at promoting health and wellness. All of the activities will encourage children to lead healthy and active lives and follow the First Lady’sLet’s Move! initiative.

ASPB will staff the hands-on activity ‘Quick-Like-A-Bunny’ Garden Cup Necklaces, where kids plant quick-germinating seeds to grow delicious vegetables that provide a nutritious boost towards thinking and moving ‘quick like a bunny.’ As youngsters create their miniature gardens friendly experts will chat with them about seed care, plant growth and health.

During this election year, ASPB booth visitors also get to ‘hop to it’ and vote for their favorite plant-based products. Will voters choose the food, the fibers, or the fuels made from plants as the products they need most for thinking and acting ‘quick like a bunny’ every day?

ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLANT BIOLOGISTS: ASPB is a professional scientific society, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, devoted to the advancement of the plant sciences worldwide. With a membership of more than 4,500 plant scientists from throughout the United States and more than 50 other nations, the Society publishes two of the most widely cited plant science journals: The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology, as well as the innovative online products Teaching Tools in Plant Biology and The Arabidopsis Book. For more information about ASPB, please visit http://www.aspb.org/. Also follow ASPB on Twitter @ASPB.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: The National Park Foundation (NPF) is the official charity of America’s 394 national parks, including the South Lawn of the White House. NPF assists in the coordination and planning of the annual White House Easter Egg Roll and also accepts donations to benefit the event. Chartered by Congress, NPF works hand in hand with the National Park Service to strengthen and connect all Americans to our parks, so they are protected for present and future generations. It is a legacy that began more than a century ago, when private citizens took action to first establish, then protect and endow our national parks. Today, the National Park Foundation carries on that tradition as the only national charitable partner for America’s national parks. To learn more visit www.nationalparks.org.

###

Jonathan Jones, ASPB member and a senior scientist at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, England, spoke on the safety of genetically engineered crops in a recent news article stating, "If you have a plant with 30,000 genes, and you add another, you have a plant that is 99.999 percent identical. It’s very unlikely that would make a difference for human health.”

The article entitled "How Scientists Manipulate the Genetics of Crops,” which appeared in the March 6^th issue of the Washington Post, provides an overview of the process of genetically engineering a crop from identifying useful genes to modify, disable, or insert into the genome of the crop of interest to testing for the modification in the genome and the safety of the newly modified plant.

Jonathan has long been an advocate for the benefits of genetically engineered crops. His opinion articles on the subject have been published in the Guardian and BBC News. His research focuses on the molecular and genetic mechanisms of disease resistance and pathogen virulence in plants. As an ASPB member, Jonathan served as a former editor of the Plant Cell.

• Washington Post Article: http://bit.ly/yuZQzg
• Guardian Article: www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/21/gm-debate
• BBC News Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8789279.stm
• Jones Lab Website: http://www.tsl.ac.uk/research/jonathan-jones/