CSIRO National Research Flagship

Dr Bruce Lee

Director, Food Futures Flagship

Nuffield International Contemporary Scholars Conference

25 February 2008

Melbourne

“..the most promising mechanism yet to drive

large-scale activity addressing National Research Priorities…”

Review of the National Research Flagships 2006

National Research Flagships Program

• A powerful mechanism for addressing National Research Challenges based on world-class science

• We form the very best multidisciplinary teams with our partners from the business and research communities

• We focus on delivery, impact and adoption of research outputs

• Flagships emphasise large scale, long duration, integrated research programs

• Flagship goals are based on deep analysis of challenges and opportunities and how research can contribute to solutions

• The Flagships funding model allow flexible responses to emerging issues through the mechanisms of the CSIRO Science Investment Process and the Flagship Collaboration Fund

Six Flagships (+ 3)

Transforming the international competitiveness of and adding $3B of value to Australian Agrifood

Minerals Down UnderNiche ManufacturingClimate Adaptation

Flagships: A Collaborative Venture

Resources

Processing

Markets

Production

Nutrition

Food Engineeringand processing

Genetics and Breeding – plant & animal

Consumer & sensoryScience & psychology

Tissue Engineering

Food matrix

Materials Science

Maths & Information

ICT

SeparationScience

Biosensing

Marine &Atmospheric

EntomologyPlantIndustry Livestock

Industries

Food ScienceAustralia

Human Nutrition

ICT Centre

Maths & Information Sciences

Land

& Water

Manufacturing & Infrastructure Technology

Molecular & Health Technologies

Materials Science & Engineering

Textile Fibre Technology

Australian Grains Industry under significant

pressure:

• Recent entry of low cost high volume producers.

• Established competitors heavily subsidised

• Constantly rising input costs

�Causing annual erosion in terms of trade 2% per annum

�Countered by annual increase in performance 1.7%

Setting the scene

Strategy

Develop grains delivering health and product quality benefits for customers and consumers.

• Modern starchy processed foods are digested quickly and efficiently in

the small intestine. These foods are low in RS and high GI.

• This means the small intestine is flooded with glucose while the colon

is starved (leading to dysfunction and cancer risk)

• Low digestibility grains containing Resistant Starch are good for health,

having a low glycaemic index and promoting a healthy bowel

• High amylose products are a good source of Resistant Starch

Healthy Grains – Redesigning Starches

High Amylose Wheat

Consumer Driver

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0 10 20 30 40 50

Large bowel cancer incidence (cases/100,000)

Estimated R

S intake (g/day)

Source: Cassidy et al 1994

US

Aust.

Mechanisms for generating starches with increased amylose content

ADPglucose

Amylose

GBSSI

Amylopectin

SSI

SSIIa

SSIII

Isa1

BEI

BEIIa

BEIIb

3. Increase

amylose

synthesis?

1. Decrease

Amylopectin

Synthesis

2. Decrease

Branching

Activity

RNAi Suppression BEII

Genetics: World-first proof-of-concept using RNAi technology via GM*

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

0 50 100 150

Elution volume

Glucose concentration

-1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0 50 100 150

Elution volume

Glu

cose c

oncentr

ation

25%Amylose

75%Amylose

Technology being further developed for commercialisation by non- GM mechanism. GM ready to go if regulatory and consumer issues allow.

*Regina et al (2006) Proc Natl Acd Sci USA 103: 3546- 3551

High Amylose Wheat

Nutrition Substantiation: Rat Trial

Feeding High Amylose wheat to rats leads to:

• Increased large bowel digesta

• Reduced caecal pH

• Increased SCFA production

• No deleterious effects

Strong package of gastrointestinal health attributes justifying further trials in large

animals and humans

High Amylose Wheat

High Fibre Grains Research Cluster

• Dietary fibre conventionally characterised as

• ‘insoluble’ [e.g. cellulose, lignin] or

• ‘soluble’ [e.g. pectin, cereal non-starch polysaccharides]

• Two major cereal non-starch polysaccharides (NSP):

arabinoxylan and (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan

= xylose = arabinose

Health Benefits of Omega-3 LC-PUFA

Long Chain PUFAs (Omega-3)

WHY?- Global fish stocks depleted

- Demand for PUFA Health Benefits increasing

Alternate renewable sources: Terrestrial plants

5 CSIRO Divisions3 Universities3 Partners

Health Benefits of Omega-3 Long-Chain PUFA

Microalgae make

long-chain Omega-3

Fish eat

microalgae

We eat

fish

Benefits:

-Cardiovascular

-Brain function

-Inflammatory disease arthritis

LC-Omega-3 PUFA Biosynthesis

18:118:0

Humans

20:5

22:6

22:5

18:2 αααα−−−−18:3Many

Plants

18:4SDASome

Plants

Metabolic Engineering Solutions Required to Bridge the Elongation/Desaturation Gap

Humans

DHA

EPA

Target

Compounds

Proof of Concept Engineering Strategy

Humans

18:118:016:0

18:4 SDA

∆6-des

∆5-elo

∆4-des

∆5-des

∆6-elo

DHA

EPA20:5

20:4

22:6

22:5

18:2 αααα−−−−18:3

Genes

Added

EPA 2.4%

DHA 1%

Consumer Engagement

Key Research Findings

�Communicate anticipated benefits eg: GM/Health

�Consumer preference for GM “one step removed”

�Community and consumer acceptance is paramount in determining the successful adoption of new technologies and novel products in the Agrifood supply chain

Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE)

NUE Canola Conventional Canola

No GeneGene

0 50 100 150 200 2501200

1600

2000

2400

2800

3200

3600

4000

4400

Seed yield [lb/ac]

Nitrogen application level [lb N/ac]

Transgenic

Control

1

Arrow #1

Same yield, 66% less N

Arrow #2

33% Higher yield, same N

NUE Canola

2

0 50 100 150 200 2501200

1600

2000

2400

2800

3200

3600

4000

4400

Seed yield [lb/ac]

Nitrogen application level [lb N/ac]

Transgenic

Control

1

Arrow #1

Same yield, 66% less N

Arrow #2

33% Higher yield, same N

NUE Canola

2

NUE Technology Summary

• 50-60% reduction nitrogen fertilizer requirement

• Demonstrated in canola (through 9 field trials over

4 years) as a representative broadleaf crop.

• Cotton, soybeans, sunflower, sugarbeets

• Demonstrated in rice as a representative grass

crop.

• Corn, wheat, barley, oats, sugarcane

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 2 3

Value adding goalsBillions of dollars

Livestock Breeds Aquaculture Breeds Aquafeeds

4.8B

0.4B

0.8B

0.8B

100MCurrent value

Added value

Added value

• Improved animal products via

advanced genetics and breeding

technologies

• Increased food exports and

production of healthier and

safer foods

Comparative maturity of Beef & Aquaculture

Production efficiency

Apply advanced genetic technology to

enhance the rate of progress

Health

Product

quality

Environment

NutritionGenetics

Time (Years)

Breed Engineering

Bos indicus (recipient)Inferior meat quality thrives

in tropical Northern Australia

Bos taurus (donor)

superior meat quality poor survival in

tropical Northern Australia

Improved growth rate

yield and meat quality

Germ cell transfer in cattle

Global aquaculture and the novel aquafeeds opportunity

• Aquaculture has been the fastest growing food-producing sector in the world since the 1950s

0 2 4 6 8 10

Cattle meat

Wild fish

Population

Sheep meat

Pig meat

Fruit & veges

Poultry meat

Aquaculture

Annual production increase (%)

8.9

4.9

3.4

3.0

2.0

1.3

1.2

1.0

Cereal grain 1.5

Aquaculture Breed Enhancement

• Selective breeding

• Molecular genetics

• Virology & health

• Reproductive sterility

• Food quality

CMAR, CLI, FSA

Prawns

Partners: APFA, FRDC, GCMA, Seafarm Pty Ltd, AIMS, QDPIF

• Selective breeding

• Molecular genetics

• Sex pre- selection

• Health • Vaccine development

• Disease resistance

CMAR, CLI, CMIS

Atlantic salmon

Partners: Aquafin CRC, FRDC, TSGA, SALTAS, Tassal Group, HuonAquaculture

• Selective breeding

• Molecular genetics

• Reproductive sterility

• Food quality

CMAR, CLI, FSA

Partners: Tasmanian Selected Abalone,Abalone Aquaculture, Abalone Farms Aust., Aust. Ocean Biotechnology, Cold Gold

Abalone

Develop and apply genetic technology to produce healthy, genetically superior strains of key aquaculture species with enhanced production efficiency, profitability and market penetration

Global opportunities

• A key opportunity for Australia is as a seed-stock, genetic technology and aquafeeds supplier to the global aquaculture industry – key focus on prawns & aquafeeds

China

Indonesia

Vietnam Thailand

India

Australia

Current projects

Expressions of interest

Designed Food and Ingredients (1022)

Food Futures Flagship

Naturally Structured Foods

and Bioactives

Concentrated Proteins

Energy

Controlled

Foods

New

Healthier

Foods

Scouting for new ideas and

scientific breakthroughs

Theme Structure

Stream 1

Stream 2

Stream 3

Bioactives

Innovative Ingredients and Food

Theme Goal

$700M by 2013

Novel Separation Technologies9 Bioactives

WHY?•Value add to waste•Health Benefits

Dermatan Sulphate (DS)

Anti-thrombin activity

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Time in minutes

A405nm

HC11

Throm

Trial 5

Sigma CSB

Anti-thrombin activity

CLUSTER

Collaborators:

Concentration and Separation of

Bioactives in Food Science

Object measures of flavour and aroma would drive production decisions

• Consistent and

predictable style and

quality

• Avoiding taints,

contaminants and off

flavours

• Maximising price point

• From a raw material that

is far from consistent

using a biological

process that is variable

Quality Biosensors

Winemakers want to be able to make wine to a precise flavour and aroma specification

BmOr22 NDBmOr17

BmOr8 *BmOr21HvCr19

BmOr20HvCr21BmOr19 ****BmOr12 ****

BmOr15 ***BmOr13 ***

HvCr8BmOr29 ND

BmOr27 ** BmOr36 **

BmOr4 **BmOr9 **

HvCr13BmOr1 ****

BmOr5 ***BmOr7HvCr14HvCr15HvCr16HvCr6

HvCr11BmOr3 ****

BmOr6 ***BmOr40 **

BmOr24 *BmOr25HvCr12BmOr11 **

HvCr7 BmOr23

HvCr9BmOr42

BmOr32 NDBmOr14 *

HvCr20BmOr28 *

HvCr18BmOr33 *** BmOr34 ***BmOr30 **

BmOr37 NDBmOr39 ND

BmOr38 NDBmOr35 ***

BmOr16 **BmOr26 *HvCr17

HvCr10BmOr31 *

BmOr41 **BmOr10 ***

BmOr18 **HvCr3

BmOr2 ****SeOr2HvOr2AiOr2

0.5 Changes

Male Biased(exceptions areBmOr9 & HvCr6 )

99

100

100

100

69

89

99

100

97

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

91

Female Biased

Female Biased

Novel receptors identified by CSIRO

Biosensor Research Cluster

• Control flavour and aroma more precisely• deliver a consistent style of wine

• even out the variations between grape lots, seasons and localities

• maximise the price point for every crush and every bottle

• Developing Cybernose to establish the link between viticulture and flavour potentialof grapes

Partners: GWRDC, Wingara Group, Fosters Group, Partners: GWRDC, Wingara Group, Fosters Group,

Yalumba, Orlando WyndhamYalumba, Orlando Wyndham

Flagship Collaboration Cluster