used to grow pharmaceutical medicine inside of plants. The technology allows for completed containment of allow effluents and by-products of biopharma crops to remain inside a closed-loop facility. As recently as 2005, GMO research at South Dakota State University by Dr. Neil Reese applied aeroponics to grow genetically modified corn. According to Reese it is a historical feat to grow corn in an aeroponic apparatus for bio-massing. The university's past attempts to grow all types of corn using hydroponics ended in failure. Using advanced aeroponics techniques to grow genetically modified corn Reese harvested full ears of corn, while containing the corn pollen and spent effluent water and preventing them from entering the environment. Containment of these by-products ensures the environment remains safe from GMO contamination. Reese says, aeroponics offers the ability to make bio-pharming economically practical. Large scale integration of aeroponics In 2006, the Institute of Biotechnology at Vietnam National University of Agriculture, in joint efforts with Stoner, established a postgraduate doctoral program in aeroponics. The university's Agrobiotech Research Center, under the direction of Professor Nguyen Quang Thach, is using aeroponic laboratories to advance Vietnam's minituber potato production for certified seed potato production. The historical significance for aeroponics is that it is the first time a nation has specifically called out for aeroponics to further an agricultural sector, stimulate farm economic goals, meet increased demands, improve food quality and increase production. "We have shown that aeroponics, more than any other form of agricultural technology, will significantly improve Vietnam's potato production. We have very little tillable land, aeroponics makes complete economic sense to us", attested Thach. Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January 2007. Aeroponic integration in Vietnamese agriculture begins by producing a low cost certified disease-free organic minitubers, which in turn supplies local farmers for their field plantings of seed potatoes and commercial potatoes. Potato farmers will benefit from aeroponics because their seed potatoes will be disease-free and grown without pesticides. Most importantly for the Vietnamese farmer, it will lower their cost of operation and increase their yields, says Thach. See also Aerial root Plant nutrition References External links NASA Web Site: Aeroponic Plants NASA Web Site: Aeroponic High Performance Food Production NASA Web Site: Low Mass Aeroponics "Re-examining Aeroponics for Spaceflight Plant Growth" Astronaut Don Pettit Grows Zucchini on ISS Expedition 31 AeroFarms (paywall) Aerogarden - home aeroponic plant growing system. Aeroponics 101 - History of Aeroponics