Agriculture in the Modern Age Biopesticides and Plant Biotechnology

• Published in: Women in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Biotechnology pp. 59 - 69
• Main Author: MacIntosh, Sue
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 2017; Springer International Publishing
• Series: Women in Engineering and Science
• Subjects: Bacillus Thuringiensis; Biotech Crop; ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY; Luminescent Probe; Plant reproduction & propagation; Regulatory Affair; Simulated Gastric Fluid; Sustainability
• ISBN: 9783319522005; 3319522000
• ISSN: 2509-6427; 2509-6435
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-52201-2_4

The 40 years of my career has spanned many different areas: The first half as a bench scientist in protein biochemistry, and then the last 20 years applying that knowledge to the area of regulatory affairs, establishing the safety of biologic agricultural products. Purification of proteins was my focus at the University of Iowa and Sigma Chemical. I purified amylases, blood coagulation proteins and Bacillus thuringiensis proteins, all of them necessary to conduct studies on the structure and function of these proteins. In 1995, a major shift occurred when I accepted a regulatory affairs position with a plant biotechnology company, Plant Genetic Systems. The last 20 years have been a very interesting time as governments around the world decided how to conduct risk assessments for these new plant products made from modern biotechnology techniques. And how the technology companies worked together with the academic community and government to address the mounting requirements brought forward by regulatory authorities. Developing standard assays and protocols to collect the safety assessment data was an important aspect of the last half of my work. The ability to interact with people from all different cultures and to travel to many different global destinations has been a highlight of my career.