NCGA
Encourages Completion of Corn Genome Mapping (1-15-04)
Representatives
from the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) promoted the importance
of completing the corn genome mapping project at the annual Plant
and Animal Genome Conference in San Diego this week. At this single
largest international gathering of scientists who study genomes, Research
and Business Development Action Team members Gary Davis, Steve Scott
and Nathan Danielson met with a wide range of stakeholders in the
corn research community to determine how to best work together to
continue to advance corn research.
“The main reason
Gary, Nathan and I went to the conference,” said Scott, a Colorado
grower, “was to ensure a continued presence and support for
industry, government and the academic community.”
NCGA’s Nathan Danielson
said there was broad consensus on the need to complete the maize genome
by members of industry, academia and government agencies who also
attended the conference.
Meeting attendees also
heard updates on genome technologies, maize genome mapping progress
and functional genomics. Functional genomics seek to apply the information
learned from genomics research to reach a better understanding of
the biology of corn. This understanding, in turn, allows rationale
design of improved corn crops.
“Our goal is to see
that the corn genome is completed thus placing input and output traits
in the hands of producers that benefit agriculture industry and the
world at large,” explained Scott.