❓ Hon. Donaldson asks the Minister for Agriculture and Food to ensure WA agricultural research teams urgently investigate an antifreeze gene found in Antarctic hairgrass to minimise frost damage to crops. The Minister encourages Agriculture Research WA to engage in the process, highlighting conventional breeding techniques as an alternative to genetic engineering.
AnsweredQoN 160Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
ANTARCTIC RESEARCH - GRAIN CROPS
I refer to the recent results of research undertaken in the Antarctic that identified and used in a grain crop species an antifreeze gene that is capable of eliminating frost, particularly in wheat crops. Will the government ensure that this research is continued in Western Australia by the combined universities agricultural research team as an urgent project using gene technology to assist in the process of minimising frost damage to crops, which costs Western Australian grain farmers and the Western Australian economy a significant amount each year? Hon KIM CHANCE
I refer to the recent results of research undertaken in the Antarctic that identified and used in a grain crop species an antifreeze gene that is capable of eliminating frost, particularly in wheat crops. Will the government ensure that this research is continued in Western Australia by the combined universities agricultural research team as an urgent project using gene technology to assist in the process of minimising frost damage to crops, which costs Western Australian grain farmers and the Western Australian economy a significant amount each year? Hon KIM CHANCE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for the question. I am aware of the discovery of a gene located in one of the only two major plant species that grow naturally in the Antarctic. The plant is called hairgrass, and it contains a gene that has the remarkable capacity of enabling the plant to survive the very low temperatures experienced in the Antarctic. I am not sure of the ownership of the property that is involved in the discovery of the plant. Hon Bruce Donaldson referred to the combined universities. Are they the owners of the IP? Hon Bruce Donaldson interjected. Hon KIM CHANCE : Hon Bruce Donaldson means Agriculture Research Western Australia. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for the question. I am aware of the discovery of a gene located in one of the only two major plant species that grow naturally in the Antarctic. The plant is called hairgrass, and it contains a gene that has the remarkable capacity of enabling the plant to survive the very low temperatures experienced in the Antarctic. I am not sure of the ownership of the property that is involved in the discovery of the plant. Hon Bruce Donaldson referred to the combined universities. Are they the owners of the IP? Hon Bruce Donaldson interjected. Hon KIM CHANCE : Hon Bruce Donaldson means Agriculture Research Western Australia. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for the question. I am aware of the discovery of a gene located in one of the only two major plant species that grow naturally in the Antarctic. The plant is called hairgrass, and it contains a gene that has the remarkable capacity of enabling the plant to survive the very low temperatures experienced in the Antarctic. I am not sure of the ownership of the property that is involved in the discovery of the plant. Hon Bruce Donaldson referred to the combined universities. Are they the owners of the IP? Hon Bruce Donaldson interjected. Hon KIM CHANCE : Hon Bruce Donaldson means Agriculture Research Western Australia. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Hon Bruce Donaldson interjected. Hon KIM CHANCE : Hon Bruce Donaldson means Agriculture Research Western Australia. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Hon KIM CHANCE : Hon Bruce Donaldson means Agriculture Research Western Australia. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for the question. I am aware of the discovery of a gene located in one of the only two major plant species that grow naturally in the Antarctic. The plant is called hairgrass, and it contains a gene that has the remarkable capacity of enabling the plant to survive the very low temperatures experienced in the Antarctic. I am not sure of the ownership of the property that is involved in the discovery of the plant. Hon Bruce Donaldson referred to the combined universities. Are they the owners of the IP? Hon Bruce Donaldson interjected. Hon KIM CHANCE : Hon Bruce Donaldson means Agriculture Research Western Australia. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for the question. I am aware of the discovery of a gene located in one of the only two major plant species that grow naturally in the Antarctic. The plant is called hairgrass, and it contains a gene that has the remarkable capacity of enabling the plant to survive the very low temperatures experienced in the Antarctic. I am not sure of the ownership of the property that is involved in the discovery of the plant. Hon Bruce Donaldson referred to the combined universities. Are they the owners of the IP? Hon Bruce Donaldson interjected. Hon KIM CHANCE : Hon Bruce Donaldson means Agriculture Research Western Australia. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Hon Bruce Donaldson interjected. Hon KIM CHANCE : Hon Bruce Donaldson means Agriculture Research Western Australia. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Hon KIM CHANCE : Hon Bruce Donaldson means Agriculture Research Western Australia. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Hon Bruce Donaldson : Yes. Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Hon KIM CHANCE : I certainly encourage Agriculture Research Western Australia, which comprises the Department of Agriculture and Food, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology, to thoroughly engage in the process. I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
I wish to correct a misunderstanding of this issue. Although this is clearly an issue that is handled by the biotechnology field of science, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the combination of that genetic modification uses a genetic engineering process. I remind the honourable member that the biggest breakthrough that has occurred in cereal technology in probably the past 50 years in Western Australia occurred as a result of Department of Agriculture and Food scientists developing a strain of acid-tolerant barley. We had seen nothing of that nature before. Now there are 20 lines of acid-tolerant barley, which, over the next three years, will be combined to bed down a line that can be released for public use. That huge breakthrough - something that genetic modification scientists have never gone anywhere near doing - was done by conventional breeding techniques. Although genetic engineering is one way of isolating and using the gene that exists in hairgrass, it is not the only way. Hairgrass is, by its very nature, a cereal. Any gene from a cereal can be combined with any other gene through conventional technology. It is, nonetheless, an exciting discovery. Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
Whether by genetic engineering or other means, such as mutagenesis, we need to see the full exploitation of this enormously exciting potential. This is not the only potential on the horizon for frost-tolerant cereals. A huge range of wild grasses and other cereals exist in a gene bank from China. Species from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert are currently spread among some 200 universities in China. Nobody has yet been able to access that whole database as a single unit. That is something on which we are working with the Chinese universities to achieve. I feel certain that, just as the development of Antarctic hairgrass is exciting, there are some enormously exciting possibilities in those western China databases.
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