From Bio Journal - May 2016
GM Pollution: Post-experiment GM petunia seeds commingled with wild strains
On 25 March 2016, the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, NIAS, announced that GM seeds had become commingled with wild strains of petunia seeds allocated to the Institute of Floricultural Science (NIFS: Please note that NIAS was integrated into the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) on 1 April 2016. Please see article below.). In the first report on 4 March, the possibility of the commingling of GM petunia seeds was announced, but this was later confirmed after DNA sequencing was carried out.
The GM petunia, recently treated and disposed of after experiments were completed at NIAS in 2011, had been developed and cultivated in an isolated hothouse from 1993 to 2008 in order to analyze petunia genetic functions.
A renewed MAFF research organization and establishment of a new genome technology development center
The three biotechnology-related organizations the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), which up to now has led GM crop development and genome sequencing, the National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences (NIAES), which has carried out GM crop cultivation trials, and the National Center for Seeds and Seedlings, which has carried out the collection and conservation of genetic resources, have been integrated into the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) to form a new agricultural research organization.
NARO was launched as the Agricultural Technology Research Organization in 2001 by amalgamation of a dozen national research institutes, such as research laboratories. Following later integration of the National Farmers Academy and others, it became known as NARO in April 2014. This latest integration concentrates almost all MAFF-related research institutes into NARO. A new Next-generation Crop Development Research Center has been established for genome sequencing and genome editing technology. It will use genome editing technology mainly for the production of pharmaceuticals from rice.
From 1 April, in the field of fish and seafood, the Fisheries Research Agency and the National Fisheries University have been integrated into the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency. "Basic research", one the four pillars of the new agency's priority issues, includes genome sequencing and genome editing technology.
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