More corn, rice per acre

RTP science lab searches for stronger, more efficient gene-altered food crops

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Corn and soybean plants are plentiful in the BASF greenhouses in Research Triangle Park, where scientists generate and test crops whose genes have been altered to adapt to difficult climates or to pack more nutrients.

Among the pots are also a few sprouting rice and wheat plants.

That's unusual. Genetically modified crops have been around for more than two decades. But companies that tinker with plant genes tend to focus on crops that have long been bred for desirable traits. Genetically modified corn, soybeans, canola and cotton seeds, including varieties that can tolerate herbicides or are resistant to pests, are widely used by U.S. farmers to produce more food, feed and fibers on the same-size fields.

Rice and wheat are fairly new to gene modification because farmers and consumers have been less accepting of artificial changes to those food crops. But BASF, a German chemical giant that came late to agricultural biotechnology, has begun to branch out. Its executives think that those preferences are changing and that the demand will increase as populations grow and acreage stays the same or shrinks.

Much of the work is done at its U.S. plant science research hub in RTP where its scientists have been working in food research longer.

"With rice we are to the point where we're very heavily investing in field trials," said Jonathan Bryant, managing director of BASF's plant science business in the U.S. "And we're seeing success."

Research into genetically modified wheat is just beginning. BASF is considering plants such as switchgrass and trees for biofuel production, Bryant said.

In the United States, Latin America and parts of Asia, farmers and consumers are becoming accustomed to genetically modified crops. And as farmers seek to increase their yield per acre with limited acreage for crops, sales of biotech seeds are expected to more than double to $15 billion in 2015.

Competition for market share is fierce. Right now nobody sells more genetically modified seeds than St. Louis-based Monsanto, which has 95 percent of the market. But Syngenta, DuPont's Pioneer, Bayer CropScience and Dow Agrosciences all are trying to claim a bigger piece of the pie.

In an effort to retain its dominance, Monsanto two years ago turned to BASF. The companies plan to invest $1.5 billion over the next two decades to bring new genetically modified crops to market. The collaboration is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The fruits of that collaboration are ripening at the RTP facility that BASF opened in 1999. For its 10th anniversary, the company provided a facility tour this week and a progress report on its research activities.

* BASF and Monsanto are investigating hundreds of plant genes to come up with seeds that produce hardier, more productive corn, soybean, cotton and canola plants. The most advanced products are being tested in large field trials, said Stephen Evola, director of BASF's plant science research. By 2012, Monsanto hopes to sell the first genetically modified corn seeds generated by its collaboration with BASF.

* BASF added rice to its research activities two years ago, when it bought Crop Design, a Belgian biotech company that used rice to discover yield-boosting plant genes. Last year, BASF started work on genetically modified rice as a commercial crop, Evola said. Farmers in the United States and Asia are increasingly buying hybrid rice seeds. Worldwide, rice is one of the top three crops planted by acreage. BASF is still looking for a partner to bring its modified rice to market.

* BASF's work with canola plants isn't limited to higher yield. Outside of the company's collaboration with Monsanto, BASF researchers are also trying to engineer canola plants that produce oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids, an important health supplement found naturally in fish oil. As with research on genetically modified wheat, BASF has yet to start work on canola plants outside Europe.

WHAT: BASF is one of three large European agricultural biotech companies with operations in Research Triangle Park. Syngenta and Bayer CropScience are the others.

HISTORY: Opened in 1999, BASF's facility is home to the German company's U.S. agricultural chemicals and crop protection business and its U.S. plant sciences research.

EMPLOYEES: About 700, including about 200 working in plant science.

BUSINESS: Discover genetically modified crops that allow farmers to produce more food, animal feed and fibers on the same acreage.

TOP EXECUTIVE: Jonathan Bryant, managing director of BASF Plant Science.