1. BECS Department Seminar

    "What does it take to get biotech industrial oil crops to the market?"

    Presented by Sten Stymne, Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden

    Friday, October 31, 2014, 11 am
    John Dunn Seminar Room, Bldg. 463

    Hosted by: John Shanklin

    The potential for plant oils to replace fossil oil in chemical industry is immense, due to the similarities in the chemical structures. Optimized plant oils for industrial uses do not only replace the fossil material contained in the final product but also save energy and investment costs in the processing. To realize the full potential of plant oils for industrial uses, the use of genetic engineering is a must. Great progresses have been done during the last decade in genetic engineering plant oil qualities for industrial uses. However these qualities are still far from being commercialized and there are many hurdles to overcome to achieve this. I will in this talk outline a roadmap showing how these hurdles can be dealt with by the Scientific Community in order for agriculture and chemical industry to adapt this technology, in benefit for the rural society and environment.