Taxpayers to fund £2bn of bioscience

The taxpayer-funded Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has revealed how it plans to spend its 450m budget over the next five years. Food security is one of three key priorities, in addition to health and renewable energy.

Professor Douglas Kell, BBSRC chief executive, said food security must be tackled through scientific advancements.

He cited areas such as higher yielding, more nutritious wheat that can cope with a changing climate and the use of fewer inputs as areas that needed to be investigated.

"How can we feed nine billion people sustainably by the middle of this century?" he said. "BBSRC-funded bioscience will help to provide a sustainable supply of affordable, nutritious and safe food for a growing global population."

He added that understanding how pathogens threaten humans and livestock will be one of the issues that will need to be faced.

It is understood a significant amount of the BBSRC's budget for the project will be diverted into the development of plant genetics, including research into the controversial subject of genetic modification.

Scientists from the University of Leeds are currently conducting research into the prevention of disease in potatoes. The work is having to be conducted behind closed doors after vandalism from activists wrecked previous experiments.

A number of crop breeding companies are expected to work with the BBSRC to fund research into immediate problems existing in the market and to translate any laboratory-based science into practical improvements on farmland.