The minisymposium on "Phytoremediation" 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 9 will feature talks on how advances in research at the University of Washington, University of York, and other institutions are leading to plants that can cleanse pollutants from the soil and water.
The minority affairs symposium "Medicinal Plants and Ethnobotany" will include five presentations, including a talk on how plant research conducted at Michigan State University could lead to production of taxol, now derived from Taxus plants, from another host. This could help in balancing taxol production needs with preservation of Taxus plants. Taxol is used in pharmaceutical therapy for patients suffering from cancer and other pathological conditions. This symposium begins 2 p.m. Monday, August 7.
The minisympoium on "Biotechnology" 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, August 9 will include a presentation on research related to arsenic-contaminated soils and water supplies are major sources of food chain contamination and thereby endanger human health. The "Biotechnology" minisymposium will include a talk on research conducted at the University of Massachusetts that led to identification of an arsenate reductase that reduces arsenate and arsenite in plants.
Major symposia at the ASPB annual meeting and organizers of the program will be: