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Planning team to develop business plan for Advanced Plant Design CenterKansas The first meeting of the planning team for the Kansas Innovation Center for Advanced Plant Design was held Feb. 25 in Manhattan. Kansas Wheat and Kansas State University received a $200,000 planning grant from the Kansas Bioscience Authority for the purpose of developing plans for the proposed Kansas Innovation Center for Advanced Plant Design: "Plants for the Heartland." The Center will focus on the emerging commercial opportunities for wheat, sorghum, small grains, and native plants and grasses. The goals of the meeting were to organize the planning team, understand the Center concept and vision, review the planning grant work plan, and identify action steps for a business plan. The team has until July 16, 2008 to develop a comprehensive proposal for the development of the Center. Leading the planning team is Dr. Elton Aberle, Dean and Professor Emeritus, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The planning team also consists of three market segment leaders and eight core competency team leaders. The three market segments are Human Health and nutrition, Animal Health and nutrition, and Biofuels and Biomaterials. The eight core competency teams are Wheat Science, Sorghum Science, Native Plants, Sustainable Crops, Bioconversion, DNA Sequencing, Plant Genomics, and IP/Technology. These teams are led by industry leaders and key researchers from Kansas State University and Kansas University. The Center will unlock the power of plant genomes by accelerating research and development and creating novel traits and profitable innovations for commercialization to meet market demands, thereby creating substantial new wealth for the state of Kansas. Outcomes for the Kansas Innovation Center for Advanced Plant Design: "Plants for the Heartland" include commercialization of sustainable, drought-tolerant, high yielding varieties; foods with reduced allergenicity; new food products that are rich in anti-oxidants, cancer fighting components; plant-derived medicines for preventing and curing human disease; high bio-mass plants for bio-fuel production; high starch content for animal feeds; and ethanol with less wastes and environmental impacts. At the end of the six-month planning grant period, the Kansas Bioscience Authority will review all submitted proposals and may award contracts for the completion of proposed centers. The dominant criterion to be used by the KBA in evaluating and awarding grants will be the expected economic development returns from the investment. The Center will position Kansas as the global leader in plant genetics by translating innovative research into value-added agricultural products delivered to the market place. For Kansas, this would create new jobs and attract the best and brightest minds in plant bioscience to Manhattan, Kan. Overall, it will enhance the economy of Kansas and the region, particularly in rural areas. 3/17/08 Date: 3/27/08
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