Brasília,7/7/2004(Agência Brasil) - The DNA Bank of Brazilian Flora at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute has been nominated for a World Technology Award in the environment category.

The DNA bank was inaugurated in June and is the first in Latin America for research on flowers and the conservation of their genetic diversity.The bank and its auxiliary laboratory are able to store genes that can be used in the future even if the species no longer exists naturally.

The unit cost US$131,200 (R$400,000) and was paid for by Aliança of Brazil (an insurance firm) and Banco do Brasil.

Minister of Environment, Marina Silva, the president of the Botanical Garden, Liszt Vieira, and the researchers involved in the project: Luciana Franco, Mônica Cardoso, Sérgio Ricardo Sodré Cardoso, Adriana Hemerly and Paulo Ferreira were all nominated for the award which is sponsored by Nasdaq, CNN, and the magazines Time and Science, and Microsoft. The winning projects will be announced in October in San Francisco, California.

Translator:Allen Bennett