Plant & Agriculture

Plant & Agriculture - Griffith Hack

Agriculture encompasses a broad range of activities related to the production, processing and use of plants and animals for the production of ornamental vegetation, foods, fibres, fuels and by-products. The agricultural industry is subject to a range of challenges including climate change, food security, bio-security, water scarcity, fossil fuel depletion, changes in consumer demands and low profit margins. It is therefore a fertile breeding ground for innovation in response to these challenges and the protection of the intellectual property in such innovations is often a key component of the success of new innovations.

Some of the exciting advances that are currently being made in agriculture are in the areas of crops with increased yield or improved nutritional characteristics, abiotic stress tolerance (drought, salt, cold), pest and disease resistance, crops with improved nitrogen utilisation, plants with improved fibre or wood qualities, plant-based biodegradable plastics, industrial chemicals, vaccines or pharmaceuticals, plant-based biofuels, cut flowers with extended vase-life and unusual flower colour, animals that produce milk with improved nutritional content, leaner meat or improved wool-fibre quality, improved feed utilisation, disease resistance or strength and new vaccines and drugs to treat diseases that affect agricultural animals.

At Griffith Hack we have a number of seasoned professionals with demonstrated experience in a range of plant and agriculture technologies including specialists able to provide the highest level expertise in this rapidly developing area of science. Particular areas of expertise include:

Plants

Marker-assisted breeding
Biological trait selection, including disease and abiotic stress resistance and macromolecule (starch, sugar and oil) modification;
Plant tissue culture including preparation of cytoplasmic hybrids;
Genetic lineage tracing;
Transgenic plants, including both nuclear and chloroplast transgenics, herbicide tolerant plants, pesticidal plants, functional foods, altered flower colour and delayed senescence;
Male sterility and hybrid seed production;
Plant-based production of industrial chemicals, antibodies and vaccines;
Second and third generation biofuel production;
Plant Breeder’s Rights;
New herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers, including biological agents;
Soil microbiology including the production pf enhanced rhizosphere microorganisms.

Animals

Marker-assisted selection and breeding;
Biological trait selection, including disease; resistance, marbling, tenderness, tick resistance, milk production and fleece characteristics;
Stem cell production;
Antibiotic replacements;
Growth Enhancement;
Cloning;
Transgenic animals; and
Veterinary pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

Farming

Farming equipment;
Alternative farming practices such as vertical farming, hydroponics and aeroponics; and
Pest management in crops using insect attractants and feeding and oviposition stimulants.

Click here for our Plant Biotechnology Brochure.

Click here for our Life Sciences & Chemical Group Brochure.