[Oregon State University received the] five-year [$4 million] grant from the National Science Foundation also has an educational component, providing funding for OSU to develop programs to teach middle-school and high-school students about the science of genetic engineering in agriculture.
[Monsanto], controversial in the eyes of some, will have a narrow role: It will supply “plant materials and methods of genetic analysis for student laboratory exercises,” the university said in a news release.
“They’re having no role in determining the content of these programs,” OSU Professor Steve Strauss, the research project leader, added in an interview. “The reality is Monsanto is a big player in the U.S. and around the world. The material they’re providing simply gives us examples of real crops that farmers are growing.”
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Related on the SLP
Strauss said there’s a lack of awareness of the public good that genetic engineering can provide, and a lack of awareness that engineered plants are uncommon beyond the high-profile cases of corn and soybeans.
“It’s actually very hard to genetically engineer most plants, trees in particular,” he said. “It takes a lot of money and a lot of trial and error, making it difficult for public universities and small businesses to do.”
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: $4M OSU genetic engineering grant includes a Monsanto connection
