East Malling Research its 2007 Amos Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Prof. David James, world-renowned plant biotechnologist. The lecture is entitled "Genetic Modification (GM) of Crops in the UK - a missed opportunity or a predictable outcome?" and will be delivered by Prof James at 3pm on November 8. It will provide an update on global developments in GM and plant molecular science.

Until his retirement, Prof James worked on the molecular biology and plant tissue culture of fruit plants. His laboratory was the first to report the production of transgenic apples (1987) and strawberries (1988). He is still involved in field trials of these plants at two leading US universities examining the role of gene silencing in the control of fruit shelf life and the dwarfing of fruit trees. Prof James is part of a consortium that has received funding from the DTI for a three-year programme to examine the economic feasibility of using transgenic plants to produce high value, low volume therapeutic proteins and peptides used in the control of cancer and HIV Aids.

Preceding the lecture on the same day, EMR will be running “A Day of DNA” symposium about the basics of DNA, and the techniques used to study DNA and their applications. The event starts at 10.15 and finishes before the lecture. More information and booking forms from ursula.twomey@emr.ac.uk

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