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Agricultural Biotechnologies
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The News items relate to applications of biotechnologies in food and agriculture in developing countries and their major focus is on the activities of FAO, other UN agencies/bodies and the 15 CGIAR research centres. The News items cover all food and agricultural sectors (crops, forestry, fisheries/aquaculture, livestock, agro-industry) and a wide range of biotechnologies (e.g. use of molecular markers, artificial insemination, triploidisation, biofertilisers, micropropagation, genomics, genetic modification etc.). New documents are included as News if they are freely available on the web and, for people who can't download them or who wish further information, an e-mail contact is also provided. The News service was launched in January 2002 and all News items posted since then (there were 800 in the first 9 years) are available here. The news and event items on this website are also disseminated through an e-mail newsletter called FAO-BiotechNews that is published in six different versions, one per language i.e. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. To subscribe, send a message to [email protected] indicating which e-mail addresses are to be subscribed and in which language they wish to receive the newsletter.
08/11/2010
The October 2010 issue of the scientific journal Biomass and Bioenergy contains an article on Bioenergy and the potential contribution of agricultural biotechnologies in developing countries by J. Ruane, A. Sonnino and A. Agostini. The article is an abbreviated and updated version of the background document prepared for an e-mail conference hosted by the FAO Biotechnology Forum on the same subject. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/article/al311e.pdf or contact [email protected] to request a reprint, providing your full postal address.
07/11/2010
The EMPRES Transboundary Animal Diseases Bulletin provides information on the effective prevention and progressive control of high impact transboundary animal diseases (TADs), analysing animal disease risks to countries and reporting on progress in the control of such diseases in affected countries. The latest edition (number 35) of the bulletin is now available including, among others, a report on the results of a proficiency test co-organized by FAO and the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie to evaluate the overall and individual technical capacities of national veterinary laboratories in Africa and the Near East to diagnose avian influenza and Newcastle disease by serology and/or molecular tests. See the bulletin at http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1648e/i1648e00.htm (in English, French and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information. The Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES) was established by the FAO Director-General in 1994.
06/11/2010
The July 2010 newsletter from the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture is now available. This 47-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of their past and upcoming events (meetings, training courses etc.), ongoing projects and publications. See the newsletter (2.1 MB) or contact [email protected] to request a copy.
05/11/2010
The July 2010 newsletter from the Animal Production and Health Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture is now available. The 39-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of past and upcoming projects, publications and events. See the newsletter (2 MB) or contact [email protected] to subscribe to the newsletter.
04/11/2010
An advance version of the report of the 5th meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 5), that took place on 11-15 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan, is now available. This 148-page document is subject to clearance and final editing. See document UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/5/17/ADV5 at http://www.cbd.int/mop5/documents/ or contact [email protected] for more information. Links to press releases, daily reports and webcasts, as well as additional information about the new international treaty The Nagoya Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety that was adopted at the meeting, are available at http://www.cbd.int/mop5/.
03/11/2010
The 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 10) took place on 18-29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. The advance unedited decisions from the meeting are now available. See http://www.cbd.int/nagoya/outcomes/ or contact [email protected] for more information. The final official versions of the decisions will be issued later as part of the meeting report.
02/11/2010
As volume 13 in its ICRAF Technical Manual series, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) recently published "Molecular markers for tropical trees: statistical analysis of dominant data", by R. Kindt and co-authors, edited by I. Dawson and O.K. Hansen. In an ICRAF survey of molecular laboratories in low-income tropical countries, one of the constraints identified for the proper application of molecular markers was the effective handling and analysis of data sets once they are generated. The 161-page guide has been designed to address this constraint and it is recommended that it be used together with the companion volume 9 in the same series, on practical protocols for molecular methods. See the Guide or contact [email protected] for more information.
14/07/2010
Three main sections of the FAO biotechnology website have recently been updated. The first, on `FAO Documents`, provides an annotated list of freely-downloadable documents and now includes 210 web links to a wide range of articles, books, meeting reports, proceedings and studies published by FAO, or prepared in collaboration with FAO, over the last 13 years concerning agricultural biotechnologies. The second, on `Country policy documents` provides an annotated list of freely-downloadable biotechnology policy documents from 18 FAO members. Most of the 25 documents are national policy documents, covering applications of biotechnology in food and agriculture as well as in other areas, such as pharmaceuticals, the environment and human health care. The third, on `Sectoral overviews`, provides an overview of the application of biotechnologies in the agro-industry, crop, fisheries and aquaculture, livestock and forestry sectors in developing countries. See http://www.fao.org/biotech/ (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) or contact [email protected] with any comments.
13/07/2010
On request from its member countries, FAOs Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) supports countries through small projects which address specific problems in their agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. In May 2008, a TCP was launched for Bangladesh on Assistance in the formulation of enabling regulatory measures for research and sustainable application of biotechnology, implemented jointly by FAO and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC). Under this TCP, a training course was organized in Gazipur, Bangladesh on 21-30 November 2008, covering five modules, namely, agricultural biotechnology; ecological aspects of biosafety; biosafety guidelines including risk analysis; post-release monitoring; and legal aspects, including plant variety protection. A 293-page book entitled Biosafety of genetically modified organisms: Basic concepts, methods and issues, edited by M.K.A. Chowdhury, M.I. Hoque and A. Sonnino, comprising the proceedings of the training course is now available on the web. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1252e/i1252e00.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.
12/07/2010
In September 2007, FAO released "The State of the Worlds Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture", a comprehensive 511-page publication drawing on 169 Country Reports and a range of other sources to provide the first global assessment of animal genetic resources and their management. It also contains many sections indirectly or directly relevant to biotechnology, such as applications of molecular markers and reproductive technologies. The publication is now available in all six official FAO languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). A 37-page summary version is also available in all FAO languages plus German, Japanese and Polish. In addition, a CD-ROM is available containing both the full and summary versions in all six FAO languages. See the full or summary versions at http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a1250e/a1250e00.htm and http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a1260e/a1260e00.htm respectively. To request the publication (or the CD-ROM), contact [email protected] providing your full postal address and indicating the version and language you wish to receive.
11/07/2010
The International Symposium on Induced Mutations in Plants was held on 12-15 August 2008 in Vienna, Austria organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and FAO through the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. It comprised an opening session, two plenary sessions and ten concurrent sessions, covering topics such as induced mutations in food and agriculture, genetic diversity and crop domestication, abiotic stress tolerance and adaptation to climate change, crop quality and nutrition, seed and vegetatively propagated plants, gene discovery and functional genomics. A 458-page publication entitled "Induced plant mutations in the genomics era", edited by Q.Y. Shu, is now available, with a compilation of peer-reviewed full papers contributed by participants. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i0956e/i0956e00.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.
10/07/2010
The Global Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity Building (GIPB), FAO and partners have previously carried out a worldwide assessment of national plant breeding and related biotechnology capacity (PBBC). To analyse these results, the GIPB recently held four regional e-consultations (for Latin America and Caribbean; South-Eastern and Southern Asia; Sub-Saharan Africa; and Western Asia and Northern Africa). For each one, a background note was prepared before the consultation and a report was prepared afterwards. See the GIPB website or contact [email protected] for more information.
09/07/2010
FAO recently published "Building biosafety capacities: FAOs experience and outlook", aiming to illustrate the main findings and lessons learned from FAOs past and ongoing biosafety capacity building initiatives. This 53-page book, by A. Sensi, K. Ghosh, M. Takeuchi and A. Sonnino, is now also available in French and Spanish. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1033e/i1033e00.htm or contact [email protected] to request a copy, providing your full postal address and well as indicating which language version you wish to receive.
08/07/2010
The 5th meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 5) takes place on 11-15 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan, back-to-back with the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 10), on 18-29 October 2010. The meeting will address a number of standing issues on the COP-MOP agenda (i.e. compliance; operation and activities of the Biosafety Clearing-House; capacity building; financial mechanisms and resources; cooperation with other organizations, conventions and initiatives; and administration and budgetary matters). It will also address a number of substantive issues arising from the medium-term programme of work and previous COP-MOP decisions (i.e. handling, transport, packaging and identification of living modified organisms; risk assessment and risk management; liability and redress; monitoring and reporting; assessment and review; and public awareness and participation). See https://www.cbd.int/mop5/ for background information and access to official documents (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information.
07/07/2010
The e-biosafety training network of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) aims to address the demand of biosafety regulatory systems in developing countries for intensive training in biosafety. It combines distance-learning with on-campus training, including laboratory practice, and the programme is currently given in cooperation with the Marche Polytechnic University (Ancona, Italy), the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and Ghent University (Ghent, Belgium). Registration for the academic year 2010-2011 is now open for the training course in Italy (registration deadline 1 October, course begins 5 November), Brazil (course begins in early October) and Belgium (registration deadline 15 September, course begins 1 November). See http://binas.unido.org/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=133 or contact [email protected] for more information.
06/07/2010
Issue number 20 (July 2010) of the OECD Biotechnology Update is now available. Presented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Internal Co-ordination Group for Biotechnology, the 34-page newsletter provides updated information on OECD activities related to biotechnology. See http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/13/7/45604987.pdf (517 KB) or contact [email protected] for more information.
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