About the Glossary

The "Glossary of Biotechnology for Food and Agriculture" is a revised, augmented version of the "Glossary of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering" published by FAO in 1999. The idea for such a collection of terminology associated with the rapidly expanding fields related to or deriving from biotechnology and genetic engineering, was stimulated by the difficulty of communicating effectively in discussions at intergovernmental level. On various occasions, simple differences of interpretation of terminology have threatened to de-rail negotiations of international importance. This Glossary tries to provide a consolidated, comprehensive and yet accessible list of terms and acronyms that are used regularly in biotechnology for food and agriculture and that represent a convenient reference source for researchers, students and technicians.

The first edition of the Glossary generated a considerable amount of interest worldwide, as seen by the many appreciative messages, number of visits to the related website and repeated requests for translation of the definitions into other official FAO languages. The process of revision, which is described in detail in the Acknowledgement section, took an entire year and involved a number of scientists, editors, teachers and experts in different fields of biotechnology. The approach used was largely participatory, attempting to involve in the review process also the audience of the Glossary.

The second edition contained 3,196 terms and related definitions (about 450 new terms, about 100 terms were deleted). A number of definitions were improved to enhance the coherence of the Glossary. The second edition also has a slightly modified title, that reflects more precisely the scope of the Glossary, limited to terms involving biotechnology for food and agriculture.

The second edition was translated into other languages to make it available for a larger audience. In addition to the official FAO languages Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish, the second edition was translated by national institutions into Vietnamese, Serbian, Kazakh, and Polish.

However, FAO does not consider that the process is completed, and inputs from users (suggestions of new terms, comments on current terms, etc.) are encouraged. The new glossary management system introduced in 2012 allows the addition of new terms and definitions as well as their simultaneous translation into Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish, enabling us to keep pace with new developments in the fast progressing field of agricultural biotechnologies.

Acknowledgements

General coordination

Andrea Sonnino – Chief, FAO Research and Extension Branch, Rome, Italy
Karin Nichterlein – Agricultural Research Officer, FAO Research and Extension Branch, Rome, Italy
Abubaker Maddur – former Agricultural Research Officer - FAO Research and Extension Division, Rome, Italy
Maria José Zimmerman - former Senior Agricultural Research Officer - FAO Research and Technology Development Service, Rome, Italy (first English edition)

Authors of first English edition (1999)

Abdellouahhab Zaid - Chief Technical Adviser/Director - Date Palm Research & Development Programme - United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Harrison G. Hugues - Professor of Horticulture - Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Enrico Porceddu - Professor of Agricultural Genetics - Università della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
Frank Nicholas - Professor of Animal Genetics, Centre for Advanced Technologies in Animal Genetics and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Australia

Editors of the revised English edition (2001)

Robert Koebner - Cereals Research Department, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney, UK
Martin J. Shepherd - free-lance scientific editor, Norfolk, UK
Phil Moss - former Director of the Cellular and Molecular Biology Division of ICRISAT, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Translators into Spanish (2004)

María Jesús Fraga Fernández Cuevas - Catedrática del Departamento de Producción Animal - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, España
Pablo Rodríguez Palenzuela - Profesor Titular del rea de Bioquímica - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, España
Ezequiel Cabrera Ordóñez - Profesor Titular del rea de Microbiología - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, España
Ana Afonso Gallegos - investigadora de la Cátedra Alfonso Martín Escudero - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, España
Ignacio Trueba - Director de la Cátedra Alfonso Martín Escudero - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, España

Translators into French (2004)

Maroun Fandy Atallah - Università della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
Mark Tepfer - Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire (INRA) - Versailles, France
André Eggen - Laboratoire de génétique biochimique et de cytogénétique (INRA) - Jouy-en-Josas, France

Translation into Arabic (2005)

Abdellouahhab Zaid – Chief Technical Adviser/Director - Date Palm Research & Development Programme - United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
The support offered by the United Arab Emirates University to the translation of the Glossary of Biotechnology for Food and Agriculture into Arabic is gratefully acknowledged.

Translators into Russian (2008)

Galina Camarova, Plant Breeding Division, State Agricultural University of Moldova, Republic of Moldova
Tatjana Gavrilenko, N.I.Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, Russian Federation
Irina Anisimova, N.I.Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, Russian Federation
Olga Antonova, N.I.Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, Russian Federation
Sergey Kharitonov, Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Russian State Agrarian University "MSHA named after K.A. Timiryazev", Russian Federation
Olga Kuznetsova, Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Russian State Agrarian University "MSHA named after K.A. Timiryazev", Russian Federation
Vsevolod Gnetii, Language Editor, Latina, Italy

Translators into Chinese (2011)

Jian Zhao, Department of Applied Biology, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai, P.R. China
Xingyuan Ma, State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering (SKLBE), East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai, P. R. China

Development of new Web version (2012)

Karin Nichterlein – Agricultural Research Officer, FAO Research and Extension Branch, Rome, Italy
Preet Lidder – Technology/Biotechnology Specialist, FAO Research and Extension Branch, Rome, Italy
Nedaa Amraish, Consultant, Rome, Italy
Nevena Alexandrova, Research and Biotechnology Officer, FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, Budapest, Hungary
Johannes Keizer, Information Systems Officer, Knowledge and Capacity for Development Branch
Yves Jaques, Information and Knowledge Management Officer, Knowledge and Capacity for Development Branch
Gudrun Johannsen, Information and Knowledge Management Officer, Knowledge and Capacity for Development Branch
Caterina Caracciolo, Computer Information Systems Specialist, Knowledge and Capacity for Development Branch
Fabrizio Celli, Software Engineer, Information and Knowledge Management Officer, Knowledge and Capacity for Development Branch
Ahsan Morshed, Researcher, CSIRO, Tasmania
Andrea di Sabatino, Macaroni Bros, Rome
Fabio Fidanza, Macaroni Bros, Rome

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