THE global food security and climate challenges are set to be tackled head on by the world's newest and most advanced crop research and plant breeding facility, opened in Canberra last week.
The CSIRO High Resolution Plant Phenomics Facility is part of a national operation which promises to provide a "new set of tools" for Australian plant science, with robotic and special imaging technology the headline acts at its centre.
It will be available for use by all Australian plant breeders and plant scientists, with expectations the new $18 million facility could revolutionise the way researchers tackle new challenges in plant and agricultural biology.
CSIRO says research at the centre will lead to the development of new and improved crops, healthier food, more sustainable agricultural practices, improved maintenance and regeneration of biodiversity.
CSIRO believes it will also have the potential to one day use these improved crops to develop pharmaceuticals.
Phenomics is described as the study of how the genetic makeup of an organism determines its appearance, function and performance.
The new Canberra centre makes up a $40m development, funded largely by the Federal Government, which will also include a new plant accelerator centre at the University of Adelaide – currently under construction.
The Canberra facility boasts sophisticated and controlled environments for growing plants across a range of climates and conditions, and will use "glasshouse automation technologies" to study large populations of plants.
Plant characteristics and performance can now be measured in "real time" with new digital imaging technology, while there is also new software which has the capacity to scale up plant performance measurements from the glasshouse to the paddock.
Already the centre is attracting plant breeders and scientists from around the world, with Australia said to now be the leader in global plant phenomics.
Scientists hope to uncover how plant genes affect the plant's function and want to speed up these finds to help develop new and improved crop varieties.
New CSIRO chief executive officer, Megan Clark, opened the centre and said it was a vital tool for Australia's efforts towards addressing food security.
Email a friend