The National Research Programmes on Organic Farming 2000–2006: French Country Report

In France, the research programmes have always been fairly decentralized. They are being carried out at several research institutions1 and universities. Government funding and sources of financing are available at national, regional and district level. Even at the national level, it is not easy to identify a real unified research policy. The main way to analyse the funding systems is to follow up the topics mentioned in the calls for proposals, which are often very much influenced by various policy networks. During the last decades, farmers’ organisations have influenced the main themes of the research programmes, both at the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) as well as at other institutions. However, since the beginning of the 1990s, a real diversification of the themes can be observed, due to substantial changes that have been taking place in the agricultural sector since then. Changes include the diversification of production models towards designation of origin (DOC); introduction of farmhouse products, extensive agriculture, breeding with suckling cows; increased attention on rural development, environmental aspects, sustainability, etc. Organic farming has a special place in this framework as its policy networks had to fight a long time to become recognised. In the year 2000 a national programme for organic farming was set up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA). At the same time there were also other calls for proposals from various bodies, both at national and regional level, which cover organic farming within the overall topics. Several of these programmes are described in this article, even if they are not specialised on organic farming. It should be mentioned in this context that the main responsible experts are represented in the different boards. Organic farming projects are therefore consistent and overlapping is in fact often avoided. The main actors in French agricultural research are - National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), - the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (Teaching and Research Department DGER) and the Ministry of Research, - the Union of the Technical Institutes for Agriculture (ACTA), consisting of 20 technical institutes organised by agricultural commodities, - the Union of the Technical Institutes for Food Processing (ACTIA), consisting of 15 technical institutes organised by processed commodities, - the Agency for Agricultural Development (ANDA) which was replaced in 2004 by the Agency for Agricultural and Rural Development (ADAR) who are yearly issuing calls for proposals. The whole system was simplified and rationalised in 2005 by the creation of the National Research Agency

Construction de banques de genes nucleaires de Daucus carota

SIGLECNRS T 55627 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Les aliments passés au crible

National audienc

Detection methods and performance criteria for genetically modified organisms

International audienceDetection methods for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are necessary for many applications, from seed purity assessment to compliance of food labeling in several countries. Numerous analytical methods are currently used or under development to support these needs. The currently used methods are bioassays and protein- and DNA-based detection protocols. To avoid discrepancy of results between such largely different methods and, for instance, the potential resulting legal actions, compatibility of the methods is urgently needed. Performance criteria of methods allow evaluation against a common standard. The more-common performance criteria for detection methods are precision, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, which together specifically address other terms used to describe the performance of a method, such as applicability, selectivity, calibration, trueness, precision, recovery, operating range, limit of quantitation, limit of detection, and ruggedness. Performance criteria should provide objective tools to accept or reject specific methods, to validate them, to ensure compatibility between validated methods, and be used on a routine basis to reject data outside an acceptable range of variability. When selecting a method of detection, it is also important to consider its applicability, its field of applications, and its limitations, by including factors such as its ability to detect the target analyte in a given matrix, the duration of the analyses, its cost effectiveness, and the necessary sample sizes for testing. Thus, the current GMO detection methods should be evaluated against a common set of performance criteria

Detection methods and performance criteria for genetically modified organisms

International audienceDetection methods for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are necessary for many applications, from seed purity assessment to compliance of food labeling in several countries. Numerous analytical methods are currently used or under development to support these needs. The currently used methods are bioassays and protein- and DNA-based detection protocols. To avoid discrepancy of results between such largely different methods and, for instance, the potential resulting legal actions, compatibility of the methods is urgently needed. Performance criteria of methods allow evaluation against a common standard. The more-common performance criteria for detection methods are precision, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, which together specifically address other terms used to describe the performance of a method, such as applicability, selectivity, calibration, trueness, precision, recovery, operating range, limit of quantitation, limit of detection, and ruggedness. Performance criteria should provide objective tools to accept or reject specific methods, to validate them, to ensure compatibility between validated methods, and be used on a routine basis to reject data outside an acceptable range of variability. When selecting a method of detection, it is also important to consider its applicability, its field of applications, and its limitations, by including factors such as its ability to detect the target analyte in a given matrix, the duration of the analyses, its cost effectiveness, and the necessary sample sizes for testing. Thus, the current GMO detection methods should be evaluated against a common set of performance criteria

Evaluation of the protection against Xanthomonas in transgenic Pelargomium containing a chimaeric cecropin gene

International audienc

Detection of genetically modified corn (Bt176) in spiked cow blood samples by polymerase chain reaction and immunoassay methods

International audienceThe fate of DNA and protein transgenic sequences in products derived from animals fed transgenic crops has recently raised public interest. Sensitive molecular tests targeting the Bt176 genetic construct and the transgenic Cry1Ab protein were developed to determine whether plant sequences, especially transgenic sequences, are present in animal products. A protocol for total DNA extraction and purification from cow whole blood samples was first drawn up and assessed by spiking with known amounts of DNA from Bt176 maize. The limit of detection for transgenic sequences (35S promoter and Bt176-specific junction sequence) was determined by both the polymerase chain reaction–enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (PCR–ELISA) and the 5′-nuclease PCR assay. Four additional PCR systems were built to substantiate the results. The first detects a mono-copy maize-specific sequence (ADH promoter). Two others target multi-copy sequences from plant nucleus (26S rRNA gene) and chloroplast (psaB gene). The last one, used as a positive control, targets a mono-copy animal sequence (αs1-casein gene). Both methods detected a minimum spiking at 25 copies of Bt176 maize/mL in 10 mL whole blood samples. The sandwich ELISA kit used detected down to 1 ng transgenic Cry1Ab protein/mL spiked whole bloo

Detection of genetically modified corn (Bt176) in spiked cow blood samples by polymerase chain reaction and immunoassay methods

International audienceThe fate of DNA and protein transgenic sequences in products derived from animals fed transgenic crops has recently raised public interest. Sensitive molecular tests targeting the Bt176 genetic construct and the transgenic Cry1Ab protein were developed to determine whether plant sequences, especially transgenic sequences, are present in animal products. A protocol for total DNA extraction and purification from cow whole blood samples was first drawn up and assessed by spiking with known amounts of DNA from Bt176 maize. The limit of detection for transgenic sequences (35S promoter and Bt176-specific junction sequence) was determined by both the polymerase chain reaction–enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (PCR–ELISA) and the 5′-nuclease PCR assay. Four additional PCR systems were built to substantiate the results. The first detects a mono-copy maize-specific sequence (ADH promoter). Two others target multi-copy sequences from plant nucleus (26S rRNA gene) and chloroplast (psaB gene). The last one, used as a positive control, targets a mono-copy animal sequence (αs1-casein gene). Both methods detected a minimum spiking at 25 copies of Bt176 maize/mL in 10 mL whole blood samples. The sandwich ELISA kit used detected down to 1 ng transgenic Cry1Ab protein/mL spiked whole bloo