U.S., USSR to Share Plant Collections
U.S. and Soviet agriculture officials plan to link the world's two largest collections of plant germplasm (genetic material contained in seeds and cuttings) via a computerized database accessible to both nations. The U.S. Agricultural Research Service's Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) has for the past six years allowed North American scientists to access the U.S. collection via personal computer. This fall two ARS scientists will travel to Leningrad to help set up a model database for a Soviet germplasm subcollection and make plans for a GRIN-like system covering their entire store.
"They'd be happy if we could transport GRIN over there and install it lock, stock, and barrel," says Paul Fitzgerald, the ARS scientist whose visit to the Soviet Union last year resulted in the plan. "We are committed to helping them get a system as close to ours in quality as possible. The...
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