2014 MGEC Survey Results

This page contains detailed results of the survey.

So far, there are 94 responses to the survey.

1. Research Directions   2. Most important from #1   3. Biological Resources   4. Details for #3   5. Education and Outreach   6. Crop Improvement and Specific Suggestions     7. Demographics    

Sort by Demographics

(Selection of multiple checkboxes within a single column is allowed. Not selecting any item in a column will return all items in that column.)

There are 94 responses to the survey.

1. Research Directions

(Please rank items each item within a group from 1 (high priority) - 5 (low priority). Items left unranked will be interpreted as low priority and assigned a value of 6 automatically.)

Data is sorted by Average Score:
QuestionAverage ScorePie ChartBreakdown
Enabling Genome Engineering: Support development and improvement of targeted genome engineering capacities (e.g., ZFN, TALENs, CRISPR/Cas).
2.09

7% (7 / 94) did not respond to this question.
44% (41 / 94) responded with a 1.
33% (31 / 94) responded with a 2.
11% (10 / 94) responded with a 3.
4% (4 / 94) responded with a 4.
1% (1 / 94) responded with a 5.
Sequencing Genomes: Generate additional sequence for diverse maize genotypes and/or species closely related to maize
2.15

9% (8 / 94) did not respond to this question.
49% (46 / 94) responded with a 1.
23% (22 / 94) responded with a 2.
12% (11 / 94) responded with a 3.
4% (4 / 94) responded with a 4.
3% (3 / 94) responded with a 5.
Enabling Genome Engineering: Simplify maize transformation.
2.16

7% (7 / 94) did not respond to this question.
48% (45 / 94) responded with a 1.
24% (23 / 94) responded with a 2.
12% (11 / 94) responded with a 3.
3% (3 / 94) responded with a 4.
5% (5 / 94) responded with a 5.
Research Areas: Advance functional studies of maize genes, gene families, and networks
2.27

5% (5 / 94) did not respond to this question.
41% (39 / 94) responded with a 1.
22% (21 / 94) responded with a 2.
16% (15 / 94) responded with a 3.
14% (13 / 94) responded with a 4.
1% (1 / 94) responded with a 5.
Research Areas: Develop populations and computational tools for understanding quantitative traits (including coordinated phenotyping efforts).
2.44

5% (5 / 94) did not respond to this question.
29% (27 / 94) responded with a 1.
33% (31 / 94) responded with a 2.
18% (17 / 94) responded with a 3.
12% (11 / 94) responded with a 4.
3% (3 / 94) responded with a 5.
Sequencing Genomes: Generate additional sequence to improve the quality of the B73 reference genome sequence
2.56

9% (8 / 94) did not respond to this question.
29% (27 / 94) responded with a 1.
27% (25 / 94) responded with a 2.
26% (24 / 94) responded with a 3.
6% (6 / 94) responded with a 4.
4% (4 / 94) responded with a 5.
Bioinformatics: Integrate the now vast numbers of RNA-Seq datasets into the maize reference genome annotation
2.59

13% (12 / 94) did not respond to this question.
29% (27 / 94) responded with a 1.
33% (31 / 94) responded with a 2.
18% (17 / 94) responded with a 3.
4% (4 / 94) responded with a 4.
3% (3 / 94) responded with a 5.
Research Areas: Increase high-throughput phenotyping capabilities for maize.
2.71

10% (9 / 94) did not respond to this question.
31% (29 / 94) responded with a 1.
20% (19 / 94) responded with a 2.
18% (17 / 94) responded with a 3.
18% (17 / 94) responded with a 4.
3% (3 / 94) responded with a 5.
Bioinformatics: Focus on curation: integrate well-documented high-quality phenotypes with genes
2.83

16% (15 / 94) did not respond to this question.
23% (22 / 94) responded with a 1.
33% (31 / 94) responded with a 2.
15% (14 / 94) responded with a 3.
11% (10 / 94) responded with a 4.
2% (2 / 94) responded with a 5.
Bioinformatics: Increase interoperability among the various existing bioinformatics resources (e.g., MaizeGDB, Gramene, CoGe, etc.)
2.93

17% (16 / 94) did not respond to this question.
21% (20 / 94) responded with a 1.
31% (29 / 94) responded with a 2.
18% (17 / 94) responded with a 3.
11% (10 / 94) responded with a 4.
2% (2 / 94) responded with a 5.
Research Areas: Focus research efforts on areas of global importance such as increased water use efficiency, nitrogen use efficiency, carbohydrate partitioning, etc.
2.95

10% (9 / 94) did not respond to this question.
20% (19 / 94) responded with a 1.
23% (22 / 94) responded with a 2.
24% (23 / 94) responded with a 3.
15% (14 / 94) responded with a 4.
7% (7 / 94) responded with a 5.
Sequencing Genomes: Characterize the DNA methylation and chromatin status of the entire maize genome across development, tissue types, and varying environments
2.96

13% (12 / 94) did not respond to this question.
15% (14 / 94) responded with a 1.
33% (31 / 94) responded with a 2.
24% (23 / 94) responded with a 3.
10% (9 / 94) responded with a 4.
5% (5 / 94) responded with a 5.
Bioinformatics: Simplify access to/use of statistical tools for NGS data.
3.17

18% (17 / 94) did not respond to this question.
24% (23 / 94) responded with a 1.
21% (20 / 94) responded with a 2.
15% (14 / 94) responded with a 3.
10% (9 / 94) responded with a 4.
12% (11 / 94) responded with a 5.
Bioinformatics: Create/deploy a centralized gene insertion database (like SALK for Arabidopsis)
3.30

23% (22 / 94) did not respond to this question.
26% (24 / 94) responded with a 1.
18% (17 / 94) responded with a 2.
14% (13 / 94) responded with a 3.
10% (9 / 94) responded with a 4.
10% (9 / 94) responded with a 5.
Bioinformatics: Expand MaizeGDB
3.34

23% (22 / 94) did not respond to this question.
20% (19 / 94) responded with a 1.
18% (17 / 94) responded with a 2.
20% (19 / 94) responded with a 3.
14% (13 / 94) responded with a 4.
4% (4 / 94) responded with a 5.
Bioinformatics: Integrate more breeding information into existing online resources
3.49

24% (23 / 94) did not respond to this question.
14% (13 / 94) responded with a 1.
24% (23 / 94) responded with a 2.
17% (16 / 94) responded with a 3.
13% (12 / 94) responded with a 4.
7% (7 / 94) responded with a 5.
Bioinformatics: Populate the Arabidopsis Information Portal (AIP) platform with MaizeGDB data (where AIP is the TACC/iPlant-based infrastructure that will serve Arabidopsis data)
4.19

37% (35 / 94) did not respond to this question.
5% (5 / 94) responded with a 1.
14% (13 / 94) responded with a 2.
21% (20 / 94) responded with a 3.
13% (12 / 94) responded with a 4.
10% (9 / 94) responded with a 5.


QuestionAverage ScorePie ChartBreakdown
Q1: List here other important research areas not show above:
5.26

84% (79 / 94) did not respond to this question.
12% (11 / 94) responded with a 1.
3% (3 / 94) responded with a 2.
1% (1 / 94) responded with a 3.
0% ( / 94) responded with a 4.
0% ( / 94) responded with a 5.

List of user input for 1a-10: Other:
  1. Nitrogen and phosphorus use rank high

  2. improve graphical representation of gene expression (like Arabidopsis BAR eFP)

  3. use curator time to do QC and data integration that cannot be automated

  4. Perennial maize genomics and breeding

  5. Biochemical and ultrastructural identification of cell structures

  6. proteomics and metabolomics

  7. Gene regulatory networks and tools to study control of gene expression

  8. generate much more mutants via insertional mutation or TILLING and identify mutated genes for reverse genetics

  9. Increase maize integration map in order facility the sequences prospections

  10. Produce a draft reference genome for a second genotype (e.g. Mo17).

  11. Improve maize genome annotation!

  12. predictive phenomics

  13. Maize Metabolomics

  14. Reward researchers for providing SNP germplasm diversity data to NCBI dbSNP. Current massive datasets are not submitted to this central archive.

  15. Improve cytogenetical studies by using molecular techniques

2. Of all the subheading items listed in #1, which single item is the most important?

Data is sorted by top score count:
Question# of top priority votes
Research Areas: Advance functional studies of maize genes, gene families, and networks
17
Research Areas: Increase high-throughput phenotyping capabilities for maize.
14
Sequencing Genomes: Generate additional sequence for diverse maize genotypes and/or species closely related to maize
10
Sequencing Genomes: Generate additional sequence to improve the quality of the B73 reference genome sequence
10
Research Areas: Focus research efforts on areas of global importance such as increased water use efficiency, nitrogen use efficiency, carbohydrate partitioning, etc.
9
Enabling Genome Engineering: Simplify maize transformation.
7
Research Areas: Develop populations and computational tools for understanding quantitative traits (including coordinated phenotyping efforts).
6
Bioinformatics: Create/deploy a centralized gene insertion database (like SALK for Arabidopsis)
5
Bioinformatics: Simplify access to/use of statistical tools for NGS data.
5
Bioinformatics: Increase interoperability among the various existing bioinformatics resources (e.g., MaizeGDB, Gramene, CoGe, etc.)
3
Bioinformatics: Focus on curation: integrate well-documented high-quality phenotypes with genes
2
Enabling Genome Engineering: Support development and improvement of targeted genome engineering capacities (e.g., ZFN, TALENs, CRISPR/Cas).
2
Sequencing Genomes: Characterize the DNA methylation and chromatin status of the entire maize genome across development, tissue types, and varying environments
1
Bioinformatics: Populate the Arabidopsis Information Portal (AIP) platform with MaizeGDB data (where AIP is the TACC/iPlant-based infrastructure that will serve Arabidopsis data)
1
Bioinformatics: Expand MaizeGDB
1
Bioinformatics: Integrate the now vast numbers of RNA-Seq datasets into the maize reference genome annotation
1
Q1: List here other important research areas not show above:
Bioinformatics: Integrate more breeding information into existing online resources

3. Education and Outreach

(Please rank items from 1 (high priority) - 3 (low priority). Items left unranked will be interpreted as low priority and assigned a value of 6 automatically.)

Data is sorted by Average Score:
QuestionAverage ScorePie ChartBreakdown
Q3: Maize genetics stock center
1.64

9% (8 / 94) did not respond to this question.
76% (71 / 94) responded with a 1.
11% (10 / 94) responded with a 2.
5% (5 / 94) responded with a 3.
0% ( / 94) responded with a 4.
0% ( / 94) responded with a 5.
Q3: Maize genome BAC minimum tiling path
3.61

28% (26 / 94) did not respond to this question.
5% (5 / 94) responded with a 1.
31% (29 / 94) responded with a 2.
23% (22 / 94) responded with a 3.
6% (6 / 94) responded with a 4.
6% (6 / 94) responded with a 5.
Q3: Maize genome fosmids (the physical entities, not just their sequences)
4.03

30% (28 / 94) did not respond to this question.
3% (3 / 94) responded with a 1.
11% (10 / 94) responded with a 2.
35% (33 / 94) responded with a 3.
12% (11 / 94) responded with a 4.
10% (9 / 94) responded with a 5.

4. Please indicate which, if any, of the resources listed in 3 (above) you:

Data is sorted by top score count:
Question# of top priority votes
Plan to use in the coming year: Maize genetics stock center
55
Used last year: Maize genetics stock center
55
Would NOT use this coming year if there were a $50 fee per sample?: Maize genome fosmids (the physical entities, not just their sequences)
23
Would NOT use this coming year if there were a $50 fee per sample?: Maize genome BAC minimum tiling path
20
Would NOT use this coming year if there were a $50 fee per sample?: Maize genetics stock center
17
Plan to use in the coming year: Maize genome BAC minimum tiling path
17
Used last year: Maize genome BAC minimum tiling path
14
Plan to use in the coming year: Maize genome fosmids (the physical entities, not just their sequences)
4
Used last year: Maize genome fosmids (the physical entities, not just their sequences)
1

5. Education and Outreach

(Please rank items from 1 (high priority) - 5 (low priority). Items left unranked will be interpreted as low priority and assigned a value of 6 automatically.)

Data is sorted by Average Score:
QuestionAverage ScorePie ChartBreakdown
Increase support for training in maize genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics.
2.37

13% (12 / 94) did not respond to this question.
34% (32 / 94) responded with a 1.
36% (34 / 94) responded with a 2.
14% (13 / 94) responded with a 3.
3% (3 / 94) responded with a 4.
0% ( / 94) responded with a 5.
Support diverse bioinformatics "workshops" at Maize Genetics Conferences and other locations.
2.84

16% (15 / 94) did not respond to this question.
19% (18 / 94) responded with a 1.
35% (33 / 94) responded with a 2.
22% (21 / 94) responded with a 3.
5% (5 / 94) responded with a 4.
2% (2 / 94) responded with a 5.
Increase funding to support travel for education/outreach participants to attend the Annual Maize Genetics Conference, to include high school students, undergraduates, students and/or faculty from Primarily Undergraduate Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, etc.
2.98

14% (13 / 94) did not respond to this question.
16% (15 / 94) responded with a 1.
30% (28 / 94) responded with a 2.
23% (22 / 94) responded with a 3.
16% (15 / 94) responded with a 4.
1% (1 / 94) responded with a 5.
Create community mutagenesis services to benefit researchers.
3.23

20% (19 / 94) did not respond to this question.
27% (25 / 94) responded with a 1.
16% (15 / 94) responded with a 2.
16% (15 / 94) responded with a 3.
11% (10 / 94) responded with a 4.
11% (10 / 94) responded with a 5.
Support community field space.
3.87

30% (28 / 94) did not respond to this question.
13% (12 / 94) responded with a 1.
12% (11 / 94) responded with a 2.
20% (19 / 94) responded with a 3.
16% (15 / 94) responded with a 4.
10% (9 / 94) responded with a 5.


QuestionAverage ScorePie ChartBreakdown
Q5: Other
5.77

95% (89 / 94) did not respond to this question.
3% (3 / 94) responded with a 1.
1% (1 / 94) responded with a 2.
1% (1 / 94) responded with a 3.
0% ( / 94) responded with a 4.
0% ( / 94) responded with a 5.

List of user input for 1a-10: Other:
  1. support student travel to community field spaces...shared pollination on a site is a great learning experience

  2. Increase materials and methods to reach consumers concerned about GMO\'s, sustainable production, and the wonders of natural diversity

  3. support community contrast (drought,N, soil etc) field sites

  4. offer bioinformatics workshops via webinars

  5. Lobby for a maize-sorghum ENCODE-like project

  6. no workshops at the Maize Geneics Conference. The meeting is too busy already. Other locations and smaller venues, yes.

  7. Student support for NON-US institutiions

6. Crop Improvement and Specific Suggestions

Beyond its value as a study for genetic and other biological research, maize is an important crop across much of the planet. This "dual use" provides some of the justification for our research funding. Please document (using language accessible to the public at large) resources needed to make maize even more productive as a crop.

6a. Please provide specific examples of how maize research has or will directly impact crop improvement:

List of user input for 6a:
  1. Various approaches developed to improve maize are transferable to other crops. Consider the benefits that soy and rice have or will gain by adopting techniques first applied in maize.

  2. Maize is an extremely productive but not extremely efficient crop plant. More research effort is needed to decrease the energy requirement for maize production, and also improve overall environmental impact. A logical target is improving nitrogen use efficiency, ideally through engineering the ability to directly fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. This will not be easy, but is possible with enough concerted effort and long-term commitment. Few if any companies have the long-term vision and resources to make this possible -- if it\'s going to happen, it needs the dedicated and coordinated support of the Maize Genetics community and funding organizations.

  3. model C4 crop plant

  4. Our undergraduate and graduate students breed crops that feed much of the world. Support for research directly improves student training, as we involve students in all that we do.

  5. There is a myth that the private sector is doing all the important work in maize. Although the private sector does a tremendous job in the short term gains the primary focus just conventional Midwest production has done little to increase environmental and economic sustainability of the crop (nitrogen use efficiency, phosphorus), adapt maize to a changing climate, develop perennial maize to reduce soil loss and energy inputs, or to select the best material for marginal environments (dryland without rain) or environments outside the Midwest (North Dakota to Mississippi)

  6. One example would be to develop high throughput phenotyping tools and genotype-to-phenotype analysis tools for maize which would be fairly transferable to other crops, with some adaptation.

  7. Research on defense against insects and pathogens is critical for crop protection and reducing the need for chemical applications.

    Research on water use efficiency is critical for crop protection and resource conservation.

    Research on nutrient use efficiency is critical for protecting watersheds from nutrification.

  8. Genetic transformation

  9. Molecular markers have accelerated breeding.
    Herbicide resistant lines developed by maize transformation have simplified crop management.
    Quality protein maize (QPM) has allowed farmers in developing world to grow high-lysine corn.

  10. Providing markers and gene expression studies.

  11. As high throughput genotyping gains importatance, breeding is becoming increasingly automated, but at the end of the day, marker assisted breeding is only as good as the extent to which genes and phenotypes can be associated.

  12. I more don\'t work in the field of genetics and corn selection. I teach at technical university of discipline relating to Public catering and service.

    All the best

    Nikolay

  13. As the population of the world is increasing and the surface of arable soil is decreasing we will need in the future to improve the yield of the corn production. Also because of the global warming, we will have less water and hotter summer, we will need to adapt and so to breed corn varieties that will optimize the use of water and support high temperatures.

  14. Maize productivity is largely dependent on fertilizer input of which N and P are the most important. Research on how maize responds to nutrient limitation and how it interacts with microbial symbionts which increase accessability to nutrients will lead to new breeding strategies aiming for hihgly efficient maize exhibiting high yield at low input of fertilizer.

  15. Molecular characterization of traits allows development of functional markers that make breeding for that trait much easier in most cases.

  16. Maize is used for food, feed, fiber, and fuel. Increased yields since in early 1900\'s has led to food security in many countries. Research using maize has provided insights into genetics, gene manipulation, and molecular marker technology. Research and development departments are already working on anticipated problems dealing with climate change, salinity, and drought tolerance. As evidenced by the number of lines seeking patents, the potential gains possible in maize have not reached their limits.

  17. Understanding the impact of drought and other abiotic stresses on different tissues in the plant helps build an understanding of how the entire plant copes with stress and begins to provide breeding strageties to mitigate environmental impacts.

  18. With continuous private-sector success in deriving improved germplasm (through molecular-genetic engineering combined with multi-environment testing of new derivatives), the need now is for (1) understanding heterosis in relation to environmental challenges, and (2) new tools for evaluation of potential productivity in multiple environments. The first is a challenge in theoretical advance that requires new creativity. The second is a challenge in \"engineering tools\" and computation.

  19. Metabolites content research through selection and phenotyping

  20. The recent genotyping of MidWest germplasm, if coupled to the very nice SNP displays at Gramene Variation Table (linked to from MaizeGDB) are useful to people doing reverse genetics, EG to explore predicted phenotype effects on a trait.

  21. Doubled haploid technology; a technique to quickly make pure lines of maize has in combination with DNA based selection tecniques accelerated the rate of development of improved hybrids in the private and now public sector breeding programs- getting the best varieties to farmers faster.


  22. maize photosynthesis is an etalon of C4 type of photosynthesis. A lot of effort is put in the upgrade of C3 photosynthesis (majority of crop plants) to C4.

  23. The most notable examples of how maize research has directly impact crop improvement is related to the technology involved in the production of commercial hybrids, production of synthetic varieties, and with studies on crop evolution.

  24. Maize researchers have more genetic resources such as reference sequence, genotypes of diverse germ plasm, and gene expression data than many other crop species. For that reason, maize researchers have and will continue to provide methods and tools for the application of genomic data to crop improvement that can adopted by others.

  25. Corn is one of the most widely grown crops for food, feed, energy, and raw materials. Fundamental understanding of maize biology will help drive breeding and biotechnological efforts to improve corn yield. We already use fundamental data on gene expression, protein targeting, as well as breeding and genomics information to help optimize selecting best lines to grow in different places and to strategically engineer plant for higher yield. But we still only understand a small portion of what we can actually change to continue improving the crop. So, there is still much work to be done.

6b. Suggest three resources needed to improve corn as a crop.

List of user input for 6b-Resource 1:
  1. More efficient transformation

  2. Drought tolerance

  3. Improve fertilizer use efficiency -- and the \"holy grail\", develop nitrogen-fixing corn.

  4. better NUE

  5. Link phenotypic trait to breeding improvement for productivity

  6. novel methods, computational resources to breed for adaptation to variable environments

  7. More lines and more indepth sequencing to expand data in the Romay et al. 2013 paper

  8. More funding for training grad students, especially in applied genetics / breeding work

  9. water use efficiency

  10. Phenotyping

  11. Centralized bioinformatics resource, like MaizeGDB

  12. transformation

  13. taste to humans

  14. Disease resistance

  15. High throughput phenotyping

  16. Maize transformation

  17. the pan genome of maize

  18. Development of CRISPR/CAS or TALEN lines for non-transgenic gene modifications.

  19. water optimization

  20. Understand molecular mechanisms involved in nutrient uptake and utilization

  21. Better annotated public gene function and pathways database (more information)

  22. Multi-location trials

  23. Strong graduate programs in plant breeding with emphasis on actual field research

  24. An extesnive reverse-genetic resource(s) available to all researchers

  25. Non-GMO disease enhancements

  26. transformation

  27. A resource (perhaps expand MaizeGDB?) that can coordinate breeding community and efforts

  28. Creative individuals with resources to study heterosis inventively.

  29. high throughput phenotyping

  30. improved reference genome sequence

  31. Databases and query tools linked by common API

  32. stress recistance

  33. Creation of a worldwide system for seed distribution - public funded

  34. Network Field Sites for testing new varieties

  35. Improved bioinformatic resources that provide community access to an exponentially expanding body of data.

  36. Availability of the seeds for the farmer

  37. Make sure publically available data is in a format that researches can easily use it to test hypotheses.


List of user input for 6b-Resource 2:
  1. nitrogen fixing corn

  2. Ability to grow in shorter season locations

  3. Improve water use efficiency.

  4. better understanding of constraints on physiological sculpting

  5. Perenniality from wild species

  6. nutrient use efficiency

  7. Data storage - genome and phenome

  8. mutagenesis

  9. kernal color

  10. Ecological adaptation

  11. Less genotype-dependent transformation

  12. Better maize genome

  13. linking genes to phenotype

  14. tolerance to high tempetarure

  15. Understand genetic basis of maize-microflora interactions

  16. Increased GEM - like resources accessing underutilized diversity

  17. low-cost high throughput genotyping

  18. Strong graduate programs in basic plant genetics and genomics

  19. Non-GMO environmental tolerance enhancements

  20. full sequence of other inbreds, not just B73

  21. maize breeding at different locations

  22. more data and tools at MaizeGDB

  23. Non-temperate or expanded reference genome

  24. yield

  25. Establishment of a Maize International Research Center based in Africa

  26. Community supported software for management of germplasm and field trials

  27. Adaptation of the crop to a market (food, energy..)

  28. Keep biologicial materials readily available for researchers.


List of user input for 6b-Resource 3:
  1. As always, yield

  2. Improve disease tolerance.

  3. more feedback between commercial breeders and academics (challenging but necessary)...not specific goals,communication and feedback, both sides learn

  4. Nutrient and water use efficiency

  5. disease resistance

  6. Field resources

  7. genome assembly

  8. use of inedible parts

  9. Improved maize genome sequence of B73 and other inbreds

  10. better use of nitrogene

  11. Understand molecular physiology and genetics of response to nutrient limitation

  12. Increased access to private company needs and data

  13. Strong graduate programs in engineering related to developing equipment needed for bioengineering

  14. Digestability for silage and fuels

  15. phenotypic capture methods in space and time

  16. Breeding maize native races for diversity

  17. improved

  18. More training of breeders in use of molecular tools- don\'t dazzle with ship-loads of GbS data- show how to use and implement in their programs

  19. specific metabolites accumulation

  20. To open world markets to corn supply, in special to countries suffering with famine and poverty.

  21. Low inputs

  22. Continue to drive innovation in bioinformatics and phenotyping.


List of user input for 6b-Other:
  1. A smaller and less complex genome (like Sorghum)

  2. nutritional value

  3. early vigor

6c. What programs might increase opportunities for international cooperation among maize researchers? More specifically, what are some ways that connections between the maize genetics community and efforts to improve corn production and food security in Africa could be established?

List of user input for 6c:
  1. A travel/exchange program for African and U.S. scientists, as well as support for attendance at the maize meeting.

  2. We need examples of effective partnerships. The gap between basic research and crop production is wide, and bridging efforts are needed.

  3. Community screening environments for marginal conditions on both continents.
    Eliminating the mistaken belief among genetics researchers that genetic background does not matter (i.e. just because alleles are important in B73 does not mean they will work on elite or diverse germplasm).
    Genomic selection models that are portable.

  4. More funding for training grad students, especially in applied genetics / breeding work. Basically providing the students with more training they can use in field based programs with appreciation for their very limited resources. ~More high value QTL validation and transfer work as opposed to higher level statistical applications or basic research

  5. BARD-like programs with particular countries that could each offer a regional impact.

  6. Don\'t know

  7. Have maize geneticists go there

  8. GMO regulatory reform in Africa

  9. Try to keep this group focused on science, please.

  10. water optimization

  11. UDSA/US government restrictions on international travel by US government employees and visits from foreign countries to USDA facilities truly strangle collaboration. IT security restrictions even make electronic communications, file sharing, etc, more difficult than necessary. Nothing ventured, NOTHING gained.

  12. Work with CIMMYT.

  13. Stabilize governments of the African countries.
    Encourage sabaticals by U.S. scientists to teach at univerities in Africa and help those countries build their own educational system.
    Interact with farmers on their own farms in African countries in conjunction with local Ag extension where that exists.

  14. Government sources of funding are encouraging teamwork throughout the community. The problems that need to be solved within the next 50 years cross borders and have widespread effects. Some private companies have started to have joint projects with Africa. AATF (African Agricultural Technology Foundation) seems eager to work with US researchers.

  15. hold the maize meeting elsewhere each year.
    invite some breeders or industrial scientists for talks and tell us what they need.
    specific grant category for the food security in Africa for scientists to apply.

  16. Establishment of International links with CIMMYT for African Maize varieties development

  17. Invite maize breeders from Africa, and other international places, e.g. CIMMYT, to the maize meeting and the conjoined corn breeding meeting, and provide some funding (US AID would likely help). Support data integration for Africa germplasm into MaizeGDB.

  18. Real understanding of what the constraints to African maize production are is critical. One technology will not have any impact on the ground. Building capacity and ensuring that technologies are accessible and affordable is critical. Prioritise and be ruthless sticking to those activities that have maximum probability of sucess translation to impact. Offer more opportunities for students from Africa to work IN Africa.

  19. See suggestions above: \"Establishment of a Maize International Research Center based in Africa\", supported by FAO - UNO. Secondly: \"To open world markets to corn supply, in special to countries suffering with famine and poverty\". Actually, most of the corn supplies are wasted due to tribal conflicts or local governments mismanagement.

  20. Cooperation between funding agencies from different countries, for example, grants supported by US funding agencies and Brazilian agencies.

  21. Partnerships with existing programs that are making a differences, e.g. Gates foundation work. Also, partnership with industry. All have a vested interest in making sure African farmers have the best tools.

6d. How could we increase public/popular visibility of the importance of maize genetics?

List of user input for 6d:
  1. The most valuable thing would be corn that provided a substantial benefit to consumers, either in the U.S. or in the developing world. Corn is often thought of only as a source of HFCS and ethanol, and there are many activists who have vilified corn as the ultimate symbol of corporate agriculture. What would help would be publicly funded maize lines that benefit either subsistence farmers in the third world or consumers in the U.S. Something along the lines of Golden Rice.

  2. Lab and field reality show; short YouTube clips for example.

  3. Inspiring stories, told by professional communicators! Pam Ronald is an excellent example.

  4. Focus on communicating shared goals of sustainability (using less to produce more). Focus on communicating the value and availability of natural diversity as opposed to just GMOs (while not denigrating GMO events or tools)

  5. Apply new genetic tools to variety development efforts in areas not well served by the private sector.

  6. Have Charlie Rose interview 5 of us regularly the way he interviews panels of neuroscientists.

  7. promote GMOs as good

  8. Lectures and lab courses in High Schools

  9. National Corn Growers Association could take best outreach statements from NSF and USDA federal grants, summarize them, and publicize them.

  10. Have the research community rather than the companies talk

  11. How do we address the following statement? \"If there is one thing about food I know for sure its that we just don\'t need more corn. I\'m not even sure we need pigs or chickens. \"

  12. showing the increase of yield and nutritional quality of the corn from the last 100 years

  13. Establish a powerpoint presentation on maize as a world-wide crop and maize genetics.

  14. How about an interactive virtual grocery store where you can try to go shopping on shelves stocked only with products that contain NO maize products at all? As you wander up and down aisles from produce to frozen foods to baked goods, most of the shelves would be mostly empty.

  15. Make a fecebook page and make sure people like it.

  16. Create intersting documentaries and share those on Netflix, Hulu, You-tube - etc.

  17. I recently heard that scientist should use social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, etc,) to spread their message to a broader audience. It was suggested that we provide positive messages about our work and how it benefits the lives of farms, families, wholesome living. Consider approaching this as a public relations firm might do. Attacking those who fight against \"Frankenfood\" will not work.

  18. every school child should grow corn in their classroom and see phenotypes segregate. an eye-opener for sure.

  19. medium exposing, facebook, twitter, TED talks etc.
    education

  20. Every member of our community should make an effort to show people around the benefits research on maize genetics, specially for improving healthy food diets.

  21. Interesting youtube videos that can be used for K-12. Podcasts for farmers.

  22. - Development of teaching tools based on web, with open access and containing the most impressive outcomes of maize genetic studies. These tools could be distributed to elemmentary and high schools (even universities) worldwide, as a courtesy by Maize Genetics Cooperation.

  23. My interest/research in maize genetics relates to its history. Writing popular articles about notable researchers who in the past (and present) have contributed to knowledge of maize genetics, and as a consequence have aided national and world agriculture, might increase the public/popular visibility of the importance of maize genetics. Previously, I have collaborated with contemporary maize researchers to write such articles and book chapters but these were aimed at researchers and were not intended for the public or popular press. More recently, I have published an e-book reproducing many of the primary papers of notable maize researcher Barbara McClintock. The perspectives accompanying her papers are aimed at both the High School and higher education audience. This I hoped will bring her work on maize genetics to a wider audience.

    Since, I am not directly involved in maize genetics research, except for teaching it and its history in my genetics courses, I have not checked boxes above. This should not be considered as unranked, but it is because I do not believe that I qualify to make such judgements. My research area is the history and teaching of maize genetics, and my current experimental research focuses on the reproductive biology of Caribbean plants.

  24. Help make sure that students coming into universities and our communities (politicians, too) truly understand not only the importance of agriculture, but also the tools available to farmers and the true impacts of these tools and systems on sustainable food production. There is so much misinformation coming from all sorts of sources, and we all need to help curb the firestorm to make sure people get good information and can make sound judgements for themselves.

7. Demographics

(Selection of multiple checkboxes within a single column is allowed.)

Sector:

  1. Academia: 35 responses
  2. Public: 26 responses
  3. Private: 19 responses
  4. Government: 16 responses
  5. other: 11 responses
  6. Non-profit: 7 responses
  7. retired but still working: 1 responses
  8. unemployed: 1 responses

Role:

  1. Head of lab: 42 responses
  2. Research scientist: 30 responses
  3. Educator: 6 responses
  4. Graduate Student: 6 responses
  5. Postdoc: 6 responses
  6. R&D Manager: 1 responses
  7. retired but still working: 1 responses
  8. National Program Leader: 1 responses
  9. Research Manager: 1 responses
  10. Director: 1 responses
  11. unemployed: 1 responses

Citizenship:

  1. United States: 64 responses
  2. other: 12 responses
  3. Europe: 12 responses
  4. Brazil: 3 responses
  5. Canada: 3 responses
  6. Mexican: 1 responses
  7. Taiwan: 1 responses

Work Location:

  1. United States: 69 responses
  2. Europe: 8 responses
  3. Brazil: 2 responses
  4. Canada: 2 responses
  5. Mexico: 1 responses
  6. Mexico: 1 responses
  7. China: 1 responses
  8. unemployed: 1 responses
  9. Russia: 1 responses
  10. Taiwan: 1 responses

Gender:

  1. Male: 57 responses
  2. Female: 29 responses