Official Opening of Teagasc Biotechnology Food Centre at Moorepark

The opening of new biotechnology laboratories at Teagasc s Moorepark Centre, by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan T.D., today (Friday 6 May) paves the way for an exciting new phase in the development of Teagasc s food research programme. Already, Moorepark Food Research Centre has consolidated it s position as a leading location for public research and for the supply of innovative technologies to the dairy, food ingredients, nutritional and beverage sectors. The new laboratories will add further to the centre s capabilities and will keep it abreast of the most advanced facilities for biotechnology research internationally.

The laboratories will accommodate 20 new post-doctorate scientists and post graduate students as well as existing elements of the biotechnology research programme amounting in total to about 40 researchers. Research will be undertaken on functional foods, food quality and safety, and on molecular genetic tools for animal breeding. According to Dr. Paul Ross, Head of Biotechnology at Moorepark, the most advanced biotechnological techniques will be employed, identical to those used in major international research initiatives such as the human genome project, with the primary aim of harnessing new sciences in the creation of opportunities for Ireland s food companies.

The new laboratories will spearhead Teagasc s commitment to research-based innovation in the food industry, which has been at the core of the Moorepark programme over several years. Dr. Liam Donnelly, Head of Moorepark Food Research Centre, sees the development as a platform for further expansion in the future. As the State strives to meet it s obligations in research under the Lisbon agreement, there will be a doubling of public research expenditure in the immediate years ahead. Dr. Donnelly sees this current investment in Moorepark as of great strategic importance to the food industry since it helps to place food research in a position to capture it s share of that increase by putting in place the scientific capacity to compete with other sectors.

The programme of the new laboratories will be part of an overall increase in emphasis at Moorepark on research in the area of foods for health. With few development options open to food companies in traditional commodities, the future development and dynamism of the food sector will be created in entirely new areas, and functional foods or foods for health are identified as one of these. Market leadership in this area, which our most progressive food companies aspire to, will require front-edge science on a par with the best internationally, and focussed public research is a necessity, not an option, in achieving this. Moorepark s Biotechnology Centre has already formed an alliance with University College Cork, to establish The Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre. This scientific foundation, funded by Science Foundation Ireland, is a major research initiative between the two institutions in this area. Population diseases such as obesity, colon cancer and diabetes have a dietary connection, and are legitimate targets for research aimed at dietary intervention. The power of modern bioscience is such that we can now probe the connections between these diseases and our response to the food we eat with greater confidence of achieving an understanding of the mechanisms involved. This can lead to the identification of the food constituents that are either harmful or beneficial. From this information food companies can build a product development agenda.

Knowledge of the health effect of food constituents is being augmented by an expansion of our knowledge of the way in which each individual is genetically programmed to respond to food. The human genome project provides a basic platform of information on our genes that is now being harvested to identify specific variants of genes in individuals that determine our susceptibility to food-related illnesses. This information will be the basis for personalised nutrition in the future, and opens up a complete new range of product opportunities and accompanying technological challenges for food companies , said Dr. Donnelly.

Ends

Issued by Larry O Loughlin,

A/Head, Public Relations Department

Tel. 059 9170200; 087 2562434;

Email: loloughlin@hq.teagasc.ie