Allan Green

Dr Allan Green devoted his lifetime research career at CSIRO to understanding the genetic control of oil and fatty acid biosynthesis in plants, and using this knowledge to develop new and improved oil crop products for Australian and global agriculture. He has been a pioneer in using increasingly sophisticated genetic technologies for the modification of fatty acid composition in oilseed crops to provide improved nutritional value, enhanced functionality, and novel industrial end uses.

The CSIRO Plant Oil Engineering Group that he founded in the 1990s and provided the strategic leadership for, has risen to the forefront of global research to improve plant oil production. The Group has generated significant opportunities for innovation in the Australian and global oilseeds industries, through the creation, development and commercialisation of DHA Canola and Super High Oleic Safflower, that will be Australia’s first two ‘home-grown’ GM crops. Their recent development of game-changing technology for synthesising and accumulating high levels of oils in plant leaves has the potential to create new oil- producing energy crops capable of sustainably delivering advanced biofuels cost-competitively with petroleum-based fuels.

In 2003 Allan established the Food Futures National Research Flagship, and subsequently established and led CSIRO’s Metabolic Engineering of New Plant Products Program that delivered breakthrough research into Food Futures. Food Futures has delivered a number of new high-value grain crops for the Australian industry including DHA-canola, ultra-low gluten barley, and high-amylose wheat. Allan recently retired from CSIRO and has established a new company AGRENEW Pty Ltd to assist the grains and oilseeds industry to capitalise on the latest genetic technologies for creating new high-value products.