Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (USP/ESALQ) has a wide international academic cooperation experience. One example is the tripartite union with The Ohio State University (OSU) and Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, established in 1997 and in place for over a decade. The conferences that take place every two years enable the three universities to maintain the International Cellular and Molecular Plant Biology (PPG-IBCMV) graduation program, a result of this partnership.
This year, Rutgers joined Big Tem – a conference of American Universities that brings new opportunities for academic collaboration and athletic competition. This membership has fostered plant biotechnologists at Rutgers and OSU to search for new ways of working to obtain energy from agricultural crops. Such renewable resources could help the United States in its pursuit for energy independence and environmental sustainability.
According to the news article called “Rutgers’ Big Ten Membership to Promote Biotechnology Collaboration with Ohio State” published in the Rutgers Today website, this partnership is one of the reasons for enhancing collaboration with OSU, since the two universities have complementary expertise in genetics. “OSU specialized in corn and soybeans, while Rutgers has expertise in turf grass, cranberries and blueberries,” says Eric Lam, distinguished professor of plant biology and pathology in Rutgers’ School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.
Both institutions are searching for a new focus on energy-producing crops and ways to genetically enhance sugar cane. According to the news article, sugar cane is responsible for much of Brazil's vehicle fuel supply. In the US, it is now grown in Florida and Louisiana, with potential for genetic breeding to enable growing in other U.S. regions.
According to Helaine Carrer, professor at ESALQ’s Biological Sciences Department (LCB), this Brazilian experience with ethanol production has been important to both American universities. “Our research allows them to correlate sugar cane development with native North American plants, such as sweet grass or even corn, among others, which they use as energy source.”
With the admission to Big Ten, Lam says that this is a good time to promote research among the three partner universities in the broad biotechnology field. “Now that we’re in the same family and have established mutual interests with Brazil, we have common ground to team up on research proposals.”
“ESALQ has contributed in biotechnology and molecular biology fields to continuously enhance this interaction with American professors. The fact that they joined Big Tem enriches the exchanges, further strengthening this union,” notes Helaine.
