Secret plant gene wins Prime Minister's Award
Two Australian scientists have just been awarded the inaugural Prime Minister's award for their work in controlling the genes that tell plants when to flower - potentially taking much of the risk out of crop farming.
The Prime Minister's Prize for Science (formally known at the Australia Prize) recognises Australian scientists who promote human welfare through an outstanding achievement in science or technology.
The two won the award for their discovering of the Flowering Switch Gene, which they said could potentially increase crop productivity by controlling when plants flower in different climatic conditions.
The research could lead to a commercial range of plants, such as indoor flowering plants that bloom at peak demand times, such as Valentine's Day; trees that that flower late to make the most of wood growth, and crops that flower at the right time for the local climate.
If, for example, Australia's $700 million rice crop experienced bad weather around the time it was flowering, it could reduce rice production by 25 per cent, Dr Peacock said. If a plant with a specific flowering time appropriate to local climatic conditions could be sown, this would avoid much of the risk.
The Flowering Switch Gene is a gene that represses flowering. It's effect in preventing flowering is switched off when the plant is exposed to cool weather. The scientists not only identified this gene in an experimental plant called Arabidopsis, but have modified it so that flowering time can be controlled.
They predict that as a result of further research, Canola for example, will one day be available in several forms, one that flowers after 120 days and one that flowers after 150 days. They also plan to isolate the Flowering Switch Gene for wheat in the next 12 months. However, it will be six years, they said, before wheat with the modified gene would be available.
However, the government's decision to award the prize to research to genetically modify organisms has raised concerns. Bob Phelps, Director of the ACF GeneEthics Network described the award as a "slap in the face" to scientists striving to develop sustainable farming.
"A fairer choice for the prize would have been CSIRO Land and Water or a comparable body, where researchers are developing sustainable farming systems to repair the environmental damage done by intensive agriculture," Mr Phelps said.
Also recognised today were two young Australian scientists. Dr Una Morgan was awarded the Minister's Prize for Achievement in the Life Sciences, and Dr Brian Schmidt won the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Achievement in the Physical Sciences.