Thornton-Massa Lecture Series
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Fall 2007
The Colleges of Agricultural and Natural Sciences invite you to
The 8th Annual Thornton-Massa Lecture Series
"Hawaii's GMO Papaya: An Analysis of Its Impact and Its Controversy"
Featuring Distinguished Speaker:
Dr. Dennis Gonsalves
Director of USDA-ARS Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center in Hawaii
Location: Yates Hall 104
Date: Monday, October 29th, 2007
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Dennis Gonsalves, director of USDA-ARS Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center in Hawaii, is most well known for his leadership in the development and commercialization of the first genetically engineered fruit crop, papaya. He not only lead the effort to solve an important crop production problem, but also in assuring that these accomplishments passed regulatory scrutiny and were accepted by and transferred to the farming community.
Dr. Gonsalves early research focused on plant viruses, attempting to identify solutions to control viral diseases in crop species. In the early 1990s he expanded his research to include controlling disease caused by papaya ringspot virus, which threatened the papaya industry in Hawaii. Dr. Gonsalves successfully led an inter-institutional research team that was able to obtain engineered papaya lines with durable viral resistance.
After this technical success, a number of other hurdles had to be resolved before commercial success could be achieved. Dr. Gonsalves orchestrated the deregulation of the engineered papaya varieties for commercial use, which involved demonstrating consumer (FDA) and environmental (EPA) safety, as well as field evaluations (USDA). He negotiated freedom-to-operate agreements from several corporate, university, and government patent holders so that the varieties could be commercialized-no small feat as anyone involved in these activities will recognize.
Gonsalves, a native of Hawaii, grew up on a sugar cane plantation and attended the University of Hawaii, where he received his BS and MS degrees. He subsequently obtained his PhD at the University of California at Davis. From 1972-77, he was an assistant professor at the University of Florida, and named an associate professor there just before coming to Cornell as an associate professor in 1977. He was named a full professor in 1986, and a Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in 1995, before accepting the Director position of the Pacific Basin Research Center in 2002.
Past Lectures
