A new field trial of genetically modified(GM) poplars with modified wood
composition will be conducted by VIB after it received permission from
the Federal Government. The field trial will be done in collaboration
with Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
(ILVO). This will be the third field trial that VIB is carrying out
withGM poplarswith a modified wood composition.

The field trial is part of the research by Prof. Wout Boerjan, Dr.
Barbara De Meester, and Dr. Tathiane Mota (VIB-UGent Center for Plant
Systems Biology) that looks into the potential of biomass derived from
plants as renewable and carbon-neutral raw material for the production
of bioenergy and biobased products. The field trials will be done on one
of ILVO's fields in Wetteren.

The difference between the three field trials is that each time a
different gene involved in the production of lignin has been suppressed
in the poplar DNA, each with slightly different effects in the tree.

VIB - New field trial with genetically modified poplars
[vib.be]