College of Forestry
New and Notable
CRISPR: The latest word in genetics
“Scientists saw that and thought, What the hell is this?” said Steve Strauss, a forest biotechnology professor at Oregon State University. As it turned out, bacteria that survive a viral invasion use CRISPR to store the viral gene sequences within their own DNA to “remember” and destroy the virus if it returns.
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Strauss presents NSF PGRP project to SMILE teachers during January 2018 Teachers Conference at OSU
Steve Strauss presents at the Plant and Animal Genome XVI in San Diego
PDF files of Steve's presentations at the Plant and Animal Genome XVI conference in San Diego can be found on the Presentations page.
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Why Biotech Solutions are Needed to Address Forest Health
Strauss was invited to present the benefits and obstacles to recombinant DNA forms of biotechnology in a December 1, 2017 lecture to the National Academy of Sciences Committee: The Potential for Biotechnology to Address Forest Health
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Howe and Strauss provide OSU forest biotechnology update in Western Forester, fall 2017
Glenn Howe and Steve Strauss recently published an article titled Biotechnology Research is Developing New Tools for Tree Breeders in Western Forester
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Strauss suggests need for more nuanced, science-informed approach to regulation of biotech trees in article published in the Washington Post
Steve Strauss is quoted in the Washington Post article titled "Environmentalists are urging the USDA to reject this genetically engineered eucalyptus tree". He said it was difficult to predict the trees’ environmental impact without having a better idea of the scale of plantings. Strauss runs a research consortium that ArborGen once belonged to, and the company has funded some of his research in the past, although the relationship has since ended. “If I were USDA, I would probably make a decision to have a provisional deregulation,” he said, allowing some years to go — perhaps a decade — before conducting another evaluation.
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Strauss delivers invited lectures on tree biotechnology in June 2017
Steve Strauss delivered lectures in Beijing, China, Concepcion, Chile, and Raleigh, NC in June 2017. View pdfs of all the lectures on our presentations page.
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Professor Strauss took part in the Corvallis March for Science on April 22, 2017
Professor Strauss of the OSU College of Forestry, and Professor Taylor of the OSU Department of Integrative Biology, take part in the Corvallis March for Science on April 22nd 2017.
Reversal of Oregon's GMO local pre-emption debated
Steve Strauss, an Oregon State University professor who studies biotechnology, said lawmakers should ask themselves whether they want Oregon agriculture to be known for innovation or for exclusion.
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GMOs, society and forest health
Steve Strauss presented a lecture on GMOs, society and forest health at the University of Florida, February 2017. See the pdf of the lecture on the presentations page.
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