The NC Ag Biotech Summit 2014 is the inaugural collaborative conference between North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center – building on the two previous signature events, and will showcase agriculture and biotechnology research, industry, business, technology commercialization, regulation and other issues that will determine much of our future. This two-day event involved the agriculture and biotechnology communities at the interface of Ag biotech. The event took place on November 18-19, 2014 at the NC State McKimmon Center. Specific key topics discussed included university research and academic programs, Ag biotech products, regulation, technology advances, policy, public acceptance, and academic / industry research efforts, and the collaborative efforts with the industry’s GMO Answers Initiative. Experts discussed some of the science-based facts, regulatory requirements, and processes in place to bring agricultural biotech products to market. Attendees learned about the diversity of resources across the state and how those resources can be leveraged to grow the state’s agriculture and biotechnology economies, while providing a safe and abundant food supply and other renewable compounds. Expected outcomes include: 1) greater understanding of current agricultural biotech innovations and issues driving future research and commercialization in NC, 2) dissemination of fact-based information to the public and media to help dispel myths and misconceptions about GMOs, research and the potential of agricultural biotech technologies, 3) further validation of North Carolina’s global leadership in agricultural biotechnology. The Kenan Institute also invited 2015 Agbiotech Kenan Fellows Illana Livstrom, Natosha Brinkley, Jennifer Spivey, Elizabeth Pack, and Cassandra Palmer to attend the Ag biotech Summit. Institute Director Ruben Carbonell currently serves as the Chair of the North Carolina Agricultural Biotechnology Advisory Board.
