WSU’S Biotech Role

Washington State University professor Jim Cook has been named to a U.S. Department of Agriculture advisory committee on biotechnology.

Cook said WSU is involved in several biotech research studies. Cook and colleague Diter Von Wettstein are testing a gene modification to a microorganism that accompanies wheat and helps wheat resist disease. Since the microbe only prevents one or the other of two major wheat diseases, their work centers on making the microbe prevent both at the same time.

WSU is in a research partnership with the private sector, looking into making potatoes more virus- and insect-resistant. Researchers are also looking for a genetic way to prevent those annoying black spots you sometimes see after you peel a potato.

The Washington state Agriculture Department does not know how many genetically modified crops are currently planted in the state. It’s not something the department puts on their farm surveys.

A Washington State Farm Bureau spokesman says the amount is very small, but that there are a number of test plots of engineered wheat and mint.