York's reputation as an international science centre has received another boost.

The city successfully played host yesterday to a symposium of more than 100 experts in the field of bioscience, the third such event to be hosted by Bioscience York - a partnership between the city council and university.

The symposium, held at the Central Science Laboratory at Sand Hutton, offered a glimpse of the future of plant biotechnology - the use of plants to manufacture useful industrial and medical products - a field which York is becoming a leading centre for.

Delegates came from the UK, Europe and the USA. A group of scientists from India had also expressed interest but were unable to attend.

Topics on the agenda included antifreeze made from carrots and a revolution in vaccinations against disease brought about with the aid of the mysterious-sounding 'transgenic potato'.

Tony Bennett, York's assistant director of economic development, said of the conference:

"It will develop York's position in the area of bio-sciences, and lets the delegates make contacts and form networks.

"York is a major international centre for this kind of research, and conferences like this will develop the science-based growth potential in York's economy - building an economy for the future and creating jobs."

Dr Richard Barker, of the UK's Axis Genetics, told the symposium how his firm had successfully turned a potato into a vaccine, by introducing genetically modified bacteria into it, which then changed the potato's own genetic structure.

He said the edible vaccine, had many advantages over injected ones, and had possible applications for treating Hepatitis B, cholera, certain cancers and even the globe-trotter's scourge - traveller's diarrhoea.

Some of the products could be on the market by 2002.

However, he said: "Though the press love to write about people in the future being able to pluck a transgenic banana off a tree when they want to be vaccinated, that will never be the case - the vaccines will be available as a capsule."

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