Jean-Marcel Ribaut 5th NGGIBCI

February 18-20,2015 ICRISAT, Patancheru, India

Translational Biology: The Generation Challenge Programme –

A Successful Case Study

Our Discussion Today:

♦ Translational biology

♦ Introduction to GCP

♦ Major achievements

♦ The Integrated Breeding Platform

♦ Lessons learnt and legacy

♦ Perspectives and conclusion

Translational Biology ♦ A “Must Have” to have impact on the ground ♦ A lot of good intention but still too little impact ♦ Research: Link upstream with applied research with well

defined delivery pipeline ♦ Examples of initiatives: Gates Foundation projects, African Orphan

Crop Consortium, NGGIBCI, GCP, others ♦ Deployment and sustainable adoption: Remains the major

challenge ♦ Still paternalistic approaches ♦ Keep scientists/breeders excited about their work (capacity building,

funds, recognition, partnerships, professional development, etc) ♦ It starts by implementing good practices

♦ Infrastructure (field and IT) ♦ Data and knowledge management ♦ Quality control

Impact of translational biology often relies on change management and the human component should not be underestimated

The Generation Challenge Programme An Introduction

GCP in brief ♦ A CGIAR Challenge Programme hosted at CIMMYT ♦ Launched in August 2003 ♦ 10-year framework (Phase I, 2004–2008; Phase II, 2009–2013), with

2014 as the closing year ♦ About US$15–17m annual budget ♦ Target zones: drought-prone environments

♦ Sub-Saharan Africa, South & South East Asia, L. America ♦ Eighteen CGIAR mandate crops in Phase I ♦ Nine CGIAR mandate crops in Phase II

♦ Cereals: maize, rice, sorghum, wheat, ♦ Legumes: beans, chickpeas, cowpeas, groundnuts ♦ Roots and tubers: cassava

Strategic objective: To use genetic diversity and advanced plant science to improve crops

for greater food security in the developing world GCP: A broker in plant science bridging the gap between upstream and applied science

www.generationcp.org

Phase II

Generation Challenge Programme (2013-2014)

('000 USD) TotalIncome - Donors 2003-2014 %

Austria 54 0 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 34,238 20 CGIAR Fund 16,521 10 DFID/UK 31,767 19 European Commission 57,280 34 Kirkhouse 15 0 Pioneer Foundation 210 0 Rockefeller Foundation 2,225 1 Sweden/SIDA 874 1 Switzerland/SDC 3,557 2 Syngenta Foundation 688 0 University of Illinois 48 0 USAID 400 0 World Bank 17,756 11 Interest Income 1,330 1 Other Income 55 0

Total Income 167,018 100

Expenditure

Research 142,550 86 Program Management 24,168 14

Total 166,718 100

Balance 300

Selected key achievements

Indicators ♦ Money allocation to partners ♦ Significant in-kind contribution from partners ♦ Open exchange of experience and information ♦ Partners not necessarily attracted (purely) by money, but to be part

of a network, visibility and exchanges with peers abroad ♦ Critical but indispensable intangibles – trust and goodwill ♦ Partners continue to work together after GCP projects end

Evolution of roles and responsibilities ♦ A switch: Leaders become mentors ♦ Knowledge applied & transferred: Trainees become doers & leaders ♦ In phase II, more than half of our PIs are from developing countries

and more than half the grants go directly to National Programmes

It takes time and resources to nurture and implement true partnership!

True Partnerships

The sorghum case: From Cornell to African farmers’ fields with a stopover in Brazil: a ten-year effort

♦ Step 1: Competitive Project (initiated 2004) ♦ Led by Cornell in collaboration with EMBRAPA ♦ Plantlets screened under hydroponics – Alt1 Gene cloned Magalhaes et al. 2007, Nature Genetics, 39: 1156–1151

♦ Step 2: Competitive Project (initiated 2007) ♦ Led by EMBRAPA in collaboration with Cornell ♦ Favourable alleles identified – Improved germplasm for

Brazil Caniato et al. 2011, PLoS One 6, e20830

♦ Step 3: Commissioned work (initiated 2009) ♦ Led by Moi University in collaboration with EMBRAPA ♦ Introgression of favourable alleles – Improved germplasm

for Kenya and Niger

Linking Upstream with Applied Science

♦ Genetic resources ♦ Reference sets for 18 crops (all CGIAR mandate crops)

♦ Genomic resources ♦ Markers for orphan crops

♦ Informative markers ♦ Drought, viruses and insect resistance

♦ Genes/QTL ♦ AltSB for Al tolerance, Pup1 for P uptake efficiency, Saltol for salt tolerance

and Sub1 for submergence tolerance. ♦ Improved germplasm ♦ New bioinformatic tools (data management, diversity studies, breeding,

etc) ♦ Enhanced capacity for MAB in NARS programmes

♦ Human resource capacity / physical infrastructure / analytical power ♦ Ex-ante analyses of MAB impact in developing countries

Product catalogue: www.generationcp.org/impact/product-catalogue

Selected Major Research Outputs

Peer-reviewed publications

5

25

51 57

68 78

73

90

32

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Journal articles published: 2005‒2013

Year

Num

ber

In selected high-impact journals (2007‒2013): • Nature: 5, Nature Biotech: 3 • Nature Genetics: 2, PNAS: 8

‘Classic’ approach ♦ Formal postgraduate training programmes

♦ 100+ MSc and PhD students whose work is embedded in research projects ♦ Workshops, fellowship grantees, travel grants ♦ Train-the-trainers for future regionalised capacity-building sustainability ♦ Communities of practice

♦ Rice in the Mekong; Cassava in Africa ♦ IBP-hosted (both crop- and expertise-based)

Perhaps not so common – probably uniquely GCP ♦ Capacity building à la carte ♦ Integrated Breeding Multi-Year Course: breeding, data management,

data analysis ♦ CB along the delivery chain (scientists, technicians, station managers) ♦ Technical support for infrastructure implementation ♦ IBP an integrated way to promote the problem-solving approach ♦ It is really about “learning as you go”

Capacity building

The Integrated Breeding Platform

IBP General Overview

The Integrated Breeding Platform https://www.integratedbreeding.net

IBP Overall Objective To improve the efficiency of plant breeding

programmes in developing countries by enabling plant breeders to access modern breeding technologies,

breeding materials and related information in a centralised, integrated and practical manner

A platform to facilitate sustainable adoption and implementation of translational research outputs to

serve plant breeding needs

BMS Core Applications

IBP General Overview

Programme & information management • WorkBench (dashboard view) • Study Browser • Breeder Queries • Ontology Manager (9 crops) • Germplasm import tool • Data import tool

Breeding activities • Germplasm List Manager • Crossing Manager • Nursery Manager, with Seed

Inventory • Trial Manager • Integrated Breeding

FieldBook Statistical analysis –

Breeding View: • Single-Site Analysis • Multi-Site Analysis • Multi-Year Multi-Site Analysis; • Breeding View Standalone

for QTL • Quality assurance

Marker-assisted breeding • Integrated Breeding Planner • Genotypic Data Management

System (GDMS) • QTL Analysis Tools • Molecular Breeding Design

Tool (MBDT) • OptiMAS

BMS: Breeding Services

BMS: Research Outputs Deployment

BMS: Alt1 as predictive marker

♦ Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: $12M

♦ GCP carry-over: $4M ♦ Clear shift from development to deployment! ♦ Deployment of the BMS is not just about adopting new

technology; it is about changing the way of doing breeding ♦ Behaviour change is a (THE) major challenge ♦ Focuses on sustainable adoption of good breeding practice,

starting with suitable and modern data management ♦ Very different baselines depending on breeding programme

format, resources and objectives ♦ Specific deployment plan

IBP Phase II (Oct 2014-2019)

One size doesn’t fit all!

Local Support: A “must have”

I/ BMS

Network

CB

Crop resources

Services

IBP

Mid-term vision, beyond the current IBP: An Integrated Breeding Management System

Station MS

GIS MS Breeding MS

Finance MS

Lessons Learnt and Conclusions

Lessons Learnt and Conclusions (I) ♦ Still early to measure impact on the ground at this stage

but overall, it seems that GCP has been a successful venture: ♦ Quality of science supported by impressive set of publications ♦ Broad range of products have been generated ♦ Networks will continue to operate under the leadership of

champions (regional, crop specific, across institutions) ♦ The GCP is already missed!

♦ Major achievements probably revolve around: ♦ Establishment of true and dynamic partnerships based on trust

and evolution of responsibilities: The GCP spirit! ♦ Cultural change on how to run R4D projects from a research and

management perspective ♦ Enabling partners in developing countries to access modern

biotechnologies

Lessons Learnt and Conclusions (II) ♦ An combined management of competitive vs

commissioned projects has been key to succeed ♦ The GCP model: “Broker in plant science” can be applied

to complement institutional core activities ♦ Lessons learnt from the CPs in general and GCP in

particular can positively inform the CRP organisational and operational models

♦ The legacy: The IBP lives on! ♦ Contributing to promote breeding evolution-revolution ♦ An integrated and comprehensive “one stop shop” approach ♦ Enabling GCP product deployment ♦ Providing capacity building support “as you go” ♦ An innovative business model approach

The BMS is building a very good momentum with increasing demand!

GCP/IBP International Staff 2003 - 2014 Akinola Akintunde Antonia Okono Arllet Portugal Carmen de Vicente Chunlin He Clarissa Pimentel Claudia Bedoya Corina Habito Delphin Fleury Diego González-

de-León Eloise Phipps Fernando Rojas Fred Okono Gillian Summers Graham McLaren

Hamer Pascal Hei Leung Humberto Gomez Jan Erik Backlund Jean Christophe

Glaszmann Jenny Nelson Jonathan Crouch Kaitlin Lesnick Kate Durbin Larry Butler Mae Christine

Maghirang Maria Teresa Ulat Mark Sawkins Ndeye Ndack Diop

Nelzo Ereful Nosisa Mayaba Peter Ninnes Philippe

Monneveux Rajeev Varshney Robert S. Zeigler Rowena Tulod Shawn Yarnes Theo van Hintum Valérie Boire Xavier Delannay

GCP People: The Programme’s Greatest Asset!

Genomics: sometime a flavor of The Miracle Approach

Crop diversity

Improved crops

Genomics

Translational Biology: To increase the probability that the Miracle occurs

Genomics: The Plant Genome Unveiled Today! Now what do we do with that?

Our Mission is Clearly Defined!

Thank you very much!