NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The UK's John Innes Centre will provide expertise in genomics and other biotechnology areas related to plant development to the Malaysia Genomics Resource Centre Berhad (MGRC) under a new agreement, JIC said today.
The aim of the collaboration is to provide JIC's functional genomics expertise to Malaysian scientists in the areas of plant and microbial research for potential agricultural and bioactive compounds.
According to JIC, Malaysia has set a goal of more than doubling its national income earned from agriculture from $7.5 billion to $16.6 billion by 2020.
"We hope the collaboration will benefit Malaysian agriculture by increasing access to plant and microbial science for tropical crop improvement," JIC Director Dale Sanders said in a statement. "Joint research will also help the country realize the potential of its biodiversity by identifying natural products that could be used in the bioactives sector."
Sanders said that the agreement will help JIC build links with Malaysian organizations that may lead to other agreements for the Centre.
"MGRC's collaboration with JIC will provide Malaysian scientists with easy access to JIC's expertise and extensive knowledge applicable to plants and microbes," MGRC Managing Director Robert Hercus said. "MGRC will continue to work with Malaysian researchers in their quest to better understand plants, microbes and unexplored organisms through sequencing and the subsequent analysis of genetic data."
Financial terms of the agreement were not released.