Drought Tolerant Wheat and Allergy-Free Grasses Among Biotechnology Advances Highlighted at Global Conference

Market Wire, August, 2006

More than 1,000 researchers from 40 different countries attending an agricultural biotechnology conference in Australia this week will learn about a series of innovations that promise to impact food production around the world. In a series of announcements at the conference, officials of the State of Victoria and scientists in the region will describe work to develop drought resistant wheat and allergy-free ryegrass, more productive dairy cows, and healing proteins derived from milk.

The research breakthroughs and other developments are highlights of the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference ( http://www.abic2006.org ), August 6 – 9 in Melbourne, Victoria. This media release provides a brief synopsis of announcements scheduled by the Victoria State Minister of Innovation and Minister of Agriculture. For more information on any of these announcements, please call or e-mail Matt Schmidt at FS Communications at 650-691-1488, matt@fscomm.com .

--  Drought Resistant Wheat: A hybrid created by crossing wild goat grass from
    Iran, modern durum wheat, and common wheat yields a strain that extends its
    roots more deeply into soil, creating a hardier crop that yields up to 20
    percent more grain under drought stress.  A photo of the wheat is available.
--  Curing Hayfever at the Source: A genetically modified ryegrass that does
    not cause the sneezing and itchy eyes of hay fever has been developed by
    Victorian State researchers, who estimate that low allergy grasses could be
    commercially available by 2013. (NOTE: At a cost of up to $18 billion to the
    U.S. health care system, according to the National Institute of Allergies and
    Infectious Diseases, hay fever is more than a nuisance.)  Photos of the ryegrass
    are available.
--  Improved Cattle Breeding: Scientists have developed protocols to test
    cattle at birth to find the genetic markers that show that next generation
    offspring will be highly productive.  This testing can cut the time needed to
    breed dairy cows by 50 percent, from four to two years.
--  Healing Properties of Milk: Bioactive proteins that help reduce gut
    inflammation and help repair damaged skin have been identified by state
    researchers, who are now developing methods to produce the proteins for
    therapeutic study.  The proteins could potentially be used as food enhancements
    or as biotech products.
    

Additional announcements expected during the week include advances in fighting a common disease in canola grain, study of DNA markers related to cattle feed conversion efficiency (a productivity measure) and studies of Murray Cod, a popular food fish found only in Australia.

Victoria is a logical host for ABIC 2006, as it is both the largest agricultural production state in Australia and a world leader in biotechnology. In 2004, agricultural production in the state was worth AU $8.7 billion and in recent months, scientists in the region have announced breakthroughs in multiple research areas. These include the discovery of an antimicrobial compound in wallaby milk that is 100 times more potent than penicillin, and detection of “antifreeze” genes in an Antarctic grass that could lead to frost-resistant crops.

About Invest Victoria

With North American offices in San Francisco, Chicago and New York, Invest Victoria is chartered to raise the international profile of the region as a location for businesses of all sizes. In fact, a 2004 study by IBM-Plant Location International recognizes Victoria and its capital city, Melbourne, as the “best value proposition” for location of Asia-Pacific operations in several dynamic industries, including aerospace and automotive component manufacturing and design, Biomedical R&D and biotechnology manufacturing, and funds management/financial services. Other sectors that benefit from Victoria’s skilled, well educated work force and solid economic growth include information and communications technology and international call center operations. For more information contact:

FS Communications US PR Agency for Invest Victoria Matthew Schmidt 274 Castro Street, #240 Mountain View, CA 94041 Phone: 650-691-1488 Email Contact Invest Victoria Mark Pearce Media Manager Melbourne, Victoria 011-61-3-9651-7663 Email Contact