Original publisher: Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2011. LC Number: KF27 .A3799 2011b OCLC Number: (OCoLC)746855539 Subject: Agricultural biotechnology -- United States. Excerpt: ...11 My goal is to convey to you the importance of research that brings innovation to agriculture and the regulatory processes that are put in place to ensure safety. I come with a background as a teacher and as a scientist and in-ventor of some of the technologies that are being used today in ag-riculture; a former director of an institute established in part as a mechanism to stimulate innovation and local economy; and as a former director of NIFA. I have been an advisor to several venture capital funds who have invested in biotech. I have sat on boards of several multinational companies as well as a number of not-for-profit research and education organizations. It has been a privilege to have participated in such a breadth of activities, each of which has brought me to this table today. The discoveries made in the plant and agricultural sciences and the laboratories of universities, private and public research centers, and laboratories of the private sector have been nothing short of amazing, remarkable in agriculture in the last 50 years, as Con-gressman Costa has mentioned. Genetic engineering recently has brought farmers insect-resist-ant crops that require far fewer chemical inputs and tolerance to environmentally friendly herbicides that enable farmers to increase no-till agriculture. This saves the farmer fuel and labor costs and increases profits. Similarly, virus-resistant crops have reduced the need for insecti-cides that control aphids. This is true sustainability of agriculture. This is sustainability that is quantifiable. It is defined by science. It is not a philosophy. It is marked and measured. Yet this is only the beginning of reaching the potential for agri-culture, an agriculture which must feed more people not just more calories but better calories; agriculture and ...