Gordon G. Allison

Transgenic plants as factories for biopharmaceuticals

Plants have considerable potential for the production of biopharmaceutical proteins and peptides because they are easily transformed and provide a cheap source of protein. Several biotechnology companies are now actively developing, field testing, and patenting plant expression systems, while clinical trials are proceeding on the first biopharmaceuticals derived from them. One transgenic plant-derived biopharmaceutical, hirudin, is now being commercially produced in Canada for the first time. Product purification is potentially an expensive process, and various methods are currently being developed to overcome this problem, including oleosin-fusion technology, which allows extraction with oil bodies. In some cases, delivery of a biopharmaceutical product by direct ingestion of the modified plant potentially removes the need for purification. Such biopharmaceuticals and edible vaccines can be stored and distributed as seeds, tubers, or fruits, making immunization programs in developing countries cheaper and potentially easier to administer. Some of the most expensive biopharmaceuticals of restricted availability, such as glucocerebrosidase, could become much cheaper and more plentiful through production in transgenic plants.

GC–MS libraries for the rapid identification of metabolites in complex biological samples

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry based metabolite profiling of biological samples is rapidly becoming one of the cornerstones of functional genomics and systems biology. Thus, the technology needs to be available to many laboratories and open exchange of information is required such as those achieved for transcript and protein data. The key‐step in metabolite profiling is the unambiguous identification of metabolites in highly complex metabolite preparations with composite structure. Collections of mass spectra, which comprise frequently observed identified and non‐identified metabolites, represent the most effective means to pool the identification efforts currently performed in many laboratories around the world. Here, we describe a platform for mass spectral and retention time index libraries that will enable this process (MSRI; www.csbdb.mpimp‐golm.mpg.de/gmd.html). This resource should ameliorate many of the problems that each laboratory will face both for the initial establishment of metabolome analysis and for its maintenance at a constant sample throughput.

Food vs. fuel: the use of land for lignocellulosic ‘next generation’ energy crops that minimize competition with primary food production

This review addresses the main issues concerning anticipated demands for the use of land for food and for bioenergy. It should be possible to meet increasing demands for food using existing and new technologies although this may not be easily or cheaply accomplished. The alleviation of hunger depends on food accessibility as well as food availability. Modern civilizations also require energy. This article presents the vision for bioenergy in terms of four major gains for society: a reduction in C emissions from the substitution of fossil fuels with appropriate energy crops; a significant contribution to energy security by reductions in fossil fuel dependence, for example, to meet government targets; new options that stimulate rural and urban economic development, and reduced dependence of global agriculture on fossil fuels. This vision is likely to be best fulfilled by the use of dedicated perennial bioenergy crops. We outline a number of factors that need to be taken into account in estimating the land area available for bioenergy. In terms of provisioning services, the value of biofuels is estimated at

Miscanthus as a feedstock for fast-pyrolysis: does agronomic treatment affect quality?

54.7‒

De novo assembly of red clover transcriptome based on RNA-Seq data provides insight into drought response, gene discovery and marker identification

330 bn per year at a crude oil price of

Genome-wide association studies and prediction of 17 traits related to phenology, biomass and cell wall composition in the energy grass Miscanthus sinensis

100 per barrel. In terms of regulatory services, the value of carbon emissions saved is estimated at

Quantification of hydroxycinnamic acids and lignin in perennial forage and energy grasses by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and partial least squares regression.

56‒

Diversity and activity of enriched ruminal cultures of anaerobic fungi and methanogens grown together on lignocellulose in consecutive batch culture.

218 bn at a carbon price of

Measurement of key compositional parameters in two species of energy grass by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

40 per tonne. Although global government subsidies for biofuels have been estimated at

Genotype, development and tissue-derived variation of cell-wall properties in the lignocellulosic energy crop Miscanthus

20 bn (IEA, 2010b), these are dwarfed by subsidies for fossil fuel consumption (