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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
This report has been prepared with funds provided by the Office of Energy Research and the Office of Health and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy under agreement number DE-FG02-94ER61939.
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STEERING COMMITTEE
DALE BAUMAN,
Cornell University
MICHAEL CLEGG, Chair,
University of California, Riverside
RONALD SEDEROFF,
North Carolina State University
Science Writer
ROBERT POOL,
Arlington, Virginia
Staff
PAUL GILMAN, Acting Director,
Board on Biology
MICHAEL PHILLIPS, Director,
Board on Agriculture
MARY JANE LETAW, Project Officer
JULIEMARIE GOUPIL, Project Assistant
KATHLEEN BELL, Project Assistant
BOARD ON BIOLOGY
MICHAEL T. CLEGG, Chair,
University of California, Riverside
JOHN C. AVISE,
University of Georgia, Athens
DAVID EISENBERG,
University of California, Los Angeles
GERALD D. FISCHBACH,
Harvard Medical School
DAVID J. GALAS,
Darwin Technologies, Seattle, Washington
DAVID V. GOEDDEL,
Tularik, Inc., San Francisco, California
ARTURO GOMEZ-POMPA,
University of California, Riverside
COREY S. GOODMAN,
University of California, Berkeley
BRUCE R. LEVIN,
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
OLGA F. LINARES,
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
ELLIOT M. MEYEROWITZ,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
ROBERT T. PAINE,
University of Washington, Seattle
RONALD R. SEDEROFF,
North Carolina State University
DANIEL S. SIMBERLOFF,
Florida State University
ROBERT R. SOKAL,
State University of New York, Stony Brook
SHIRLEY M. TILGHMAN,
Princeton University
RAYMOND L. WHITE,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
Staff
KATHLEEN BEIL, Project Assistant
COMMISSION ON LIFE SCIENCES
THOMAS D. POLLARD, Chair,
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California
FREDERICK R. ANDERSON,
Cadwalder, Wickersham and Taft, Washington, DC
JOHN C. BAILAR, III,
University of Chicago
PAUL BERG,
Stanford University
JOHN E. BURRIS,
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
SHARON L. DUNWOODY,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
URSULA W. GOODENOUGH,
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
HENRY W. HEIKKINEN,
University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado
HANS J. KENDE,
Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan
SUSAN E. LEEMAN,
Boston University School of Medicine
THOMAS E. LOVEJOY,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
DONALD R. MATTISON,
University of Pittsburgh
JOSEPH E. MURRAY,
Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts
EDWARD E. PENHOET,
Chiron Corporation, Emeryville, California
EMIL A PFITZER,
Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, Inc., Hackensack, New Jersey
MALCOLM C. PIKE,
Norris/University of Southern California Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California
HENRY C. PITOT, III,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
JOHNATHAN M. SAMET,
John Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
CHARLES F. STEVENS,
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California
JOHN L. VANDERBERG,
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Texas
Staff
PAUL GILMAN, Executive Director
BOARD ON AGRICULTURE
DALE E. BAUMAN, Chair,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
JOHN M. ANTLE,
Montana State University, Bozeman
SANDRA S. BATIE,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
MAY R. BERENBAUM,
University of Illinois, Urbana
LEONARD S. BULL,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh
WILLIAM B. DELAUDER,
Delaware State University, Dover
ANTHONY S. EARL,
Quarles & Brady Law Firm, Madison, Wisconsin
ESSEX E. FINNEY, Jr.,
US Department of Agriculture, Mitchelleville, Maryland
CORNELIA FLORA,
Iowa State University, Ames
GEORGE R. HALLBERG,
University of Iowa, Iowa City
RICHARD R. HARWOOD,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
T. KENT KIRK,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
HARLEY W. MOON,
Iowa State University, Ames
WILLIAM L. OGREN,
University of Illinois, Urbana
GEORGE E. SEIDEL, Jr.,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins
JOHN W. SUTTIE,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
JAMES J. ZUICHES,
Washington State University, Pullman
Staff
PAUL GILMAN, Executive Director
MICHAEL J. PHILLIPS, Director
SHIRLEY B. THATCHER, Senior Project Assistant
Preface
In 1993 the National Research Council's Board on Biology established a series of forums on biotechnology. The purpose of the discussions is to foster open communication among scientists, administrators, policy-makers, and others engaged in biotechnology research, development, and commercialization. The neutral setting offered by the National Research Council is intended to promote mutual understanding among government, industry, and academe and to help develop imaginative approaches to problem solving. The objective, however, is to illuminate issues, not to resolve them. Unlike study committees of the National Research Council, forums cannot provide advice or recommendations to any government agency or other organization. Similarly, summaries of forums are precluded from reaching conclusions or recommendations, but instead, are intended to reflect the variety of opinions expressed by the participants. The comments in this report reflect the views of the forum's participants as indicated in the text.
For the first forum, held on November 5, 1996, the Board on Biology collaborated with the Board on Agriculture to focus on intellectual property rights issues surrounding plant biotechnology. The second forum, held on April 26, 1997, was also conducted in collaboration with the Board on Agriculture. On April 3, 1997, Bruce Alberts, President of the National Academy of Sciences, met with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Acting Under Secretary for Research Cathy Woteki, USDA National Research Initiative Chief Scientist Ron Phillips, and National Science Foundation Assistant Director for Biological Sciences Mary Clutter to discuss a new and expanded plant and animal genome mapping and sequencing project. It was agreed that through the auspices of the
forum on biotechnology the National Research Council could identify issues and obstacles to a broad genome project with numerous plant and animal species as its subjects. An attempt would also be made to identify problem areas and breakthroughs in similar programs (e.g., the human genome project and the Japanese rice genome project).
Participation at the "Forum on Designing an Agricultural Genome Program" by representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Congressional staff suggests that this project is important to many federal bodies. Scientists from industry, academe, and federal agencies shared their experiences in mapping and sequencing programs in diverse areas of genomics including human, mouse, Arabidopsis, livestock, and maize.
Examination of genomics has been a focus of other activities of the Board on Biology. In 1988 Bruce Alberts, chair of the Board's Committee on Mapping and Sequencing the Human Genome at that time, released a report outlining how, when, and why we should map and sequence the DNA in the human genome, and strategies for implementation and management of the project. We hope the present forum proceedings will generate further interest in an agricultural genome project and other issues of biotechnology.
DALE E. BAUMAN, CHAIR
BOARD ON AGRICULTURE
MICHAEL T. CLEGG, CHAIR
BOARD ON BIOLOGY
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.