BioCassava Plus

Funded by the Grand Challenges in Global Health

Mission & Objectives

Mission

Over 250 million sub-Saharan Africans rely on cassava as their major source of calories. A cassava-based diet does not provide complete nutrition, however. BioCassava Plus aims to reduce malnutrition among sub-Saharan Africans by delivering more nutritious, higher yielding, and more marketable cultivars of cassava. The improved traits which we will deliver include: enhanced bioavailable levels of zinc, iron, protein, vitamin A, vitamin E, and reduced quantities of toxic cyanogenic glycosides, improved post-harvest durability, and improved resistance against viral diseases. Field and human feeding trials will be conducted in close collaboration with African scientists to demonstrate efficacy.

Objectives

BioCassava Plus has six major objectives:

To increase by six-fold the content and bioavailability of zinc and iron in cassava tubers and demonstrate its viability in the field and efficacy in humans.

To increase by four-fold the protein content of cassava tubers and demonstrate its viability in the field and efficacy in humans.

To increase by ten-fold the vitamin A and E content of cassava tubers and demonstrate its viability in the field and efficacy in humans.

To decrease by ten-fold the cyanogen content in cassava tubers and demonstrate its resistance in the field.

To delay the rapid post-harvest physiological deterioration of cassava tubers and demonstrate its resistance in the field.

To develop virus-resistant cassava varieties and demonstrate its resistance in the field.

	November 2009 Completion of the Sequencing of the Cassava Genome Project begun in 2003.
	October 22, 2009 National Biosafety Committee (NBC) in Kenya announced the approval of a CFT permit for Kenya.
	October 22, 2009 Ms. Jenny Rooke, Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's visit to the BC Plus laboratory in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
	October 19-21, 2009 Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH) Meeting and GC 9 Meeting in Arusha, Tanzania.
	October 14, 2009 First field trial of transgenic plants in Nigeria.
	October 12, 2009 Reaching End Users Strategy Meeting in Tanzania.
	October 8-9, 2009 Reaching End Users Strategy Meeting in Kenya.
	October 5-6, 2009 Reaching End Users Strategy Meeting in Nigeria.
	October 2009 Harvesting of transgenic cassava, Pro Vitamin A and Protein (Zeolin) in Puerto Rico.
	July 2009 Harvesting of the G5, Virus resistant plant in Puerto Rico.
	June 27-29, 2009 4th Annual Scientific Research Meeting of BC Plus in Puerto Rico.
	May 8-11, 2009 GC9 Meeting in Beijing, China.

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