History

Plans for a genetic engineering research cooperative based at Oregon State University were first discussed by researchers from OSU, the University of Washington (Milton Gordon, Reinhard Stettler, Toby Bradshaw), and forest industries (Boise Cascade, Potlatch, James River) in 1990. A meeting with industry and DOE representatives in 1993 led to a Prospectus from which a core of industries and the DOE decided to support cooperative research. It was titled the Tree Genetic Engineering Research Cooperative (TGERC).

The TGERC was renewed by members for a second 5-year phase in 1999.

It was then renewed for a third 5-year phase, in 2004, where its name was changed to Tree Biosafety and Genomics Research Cooperative (TBGRC). The new name better reflects its emphasis on biosafety technologies, and its expanded studies of the functional genomics of trees (i.e., identifying how large numbers of genes in tree genomes affect important traits).