Agricultural Biotechnologies
Agricultural Biotechnologies in crops, forestry, livestock, fisheries and agro-industry  Biotech-banner
 

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.

News

23/05/2022

FAO has just published an “Information toolkit on food biotechnologies with a focus on food safety”, which serves as a basis to assist countries in addressing the general public’s concerns on food biotechnology and food safety, to support them in raising awareness of the science of food biotechnologies and food safety and to inform discussions and decisions. It consists of one handbook, providing an instruction manual for the whole set of documents, and ten booklets, covering background and guidance, fundamentals, rationale for potential benefits, GM food safety assessment, regulations, human health, environment, practical uses and applications, current innovations and public engagement respectively. See https://www.fao.org/food-safety/news/news-details/en/c/1470882/ or contact [email protected] for more information.

11/03/2022

The 18th Regular Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) took place from 27 September to 1 October 2021 in a virtual format. For the agenda item on “Review of the work on biotechnologies for the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources for food and agriculture”, the CGRFA considered a working document on “Biotechnologies for the sustainable use and conservation of genetic resources for food and agriculture” (document number CGRFA-18/21/6) and took note of an information document on “Recent developments in biotechnologies relevant to the characterization, sustainable use and conservation of genetic resources for food and agriculture” (CGRFA-18/21/6/Inf.1). For the agenda item on “’Digital sequence information’ on genetic resources for food and agriculture”, the CGRFA considered a working document on “Digital sequence information on genetic resources for food and agriculture: Innovation opportunities, challenges and implications” (CGRFA-18/21/5). The report and working documents of the meeting (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) are available at https://www.fao.org/cgrfa/meetings/detail/en/c/1414719/. The CGRFA is an intergovernmental body established by the FAO Conference in 1983, whose Members include 178 countries and the European Union. It provides the only permanent forum for governments to specifically discuss and negotiate matters relevant to biological diversity for food and agriculture, including all plant, animal, forest, aquatic, micro-organism and invertebrate genetic resources for food and agriculture. It normally holds one regular session each biennium. Contact [email protected] for more information.

10/03/2022

On 4-5 November 2021, FAO organised the "Global conference on green development of seed industries". The virtual event provided a neutral forum for FAO Members, partners, industry and opinion leaders, and other stakeholders to engage in focused dialogues on how best to make quality seeds of preferred productive, nutritious and resilient crop varieties available to farmers. The conference included a plenary session with keynote addresses, a high-level ministerial segment and eight parallel sessions, with two sessions dedicated to each of the following four themes: advanced technologies, conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, crop varietal development and adoption, and seed systems. For the theme of advanced technologies, the parallel sessions focused on 'Modern plant breeding technologies' and 'Emerging biotechnologies and informatics technologies'. All information about the conference, including the programme, FAQs and webcasts of all the sessions, is available at https://www.fao.org/events/detail/global-conference-on-green-development-of-seed-industries/en. Contact [email protected] for further information.

09/03/2022

As part of the build up to the UN Food Systems Summit on 23 September 2021, the Scientific Group of the UN Food Systems Summit organized the “Science Days for the UN Food Systems Summit 2021”, facilitated and hosted by FAO on 8-9 July, where more than 2,000 participants from research, policy, civil society and industry came together to examine how to unlock the full potential of science, technology and innovation to transform food systems. The role of agricultural biotechnologies was discussed at the Science Days, including during a session dedicated to ‘bio-science innovation’, encompassing genome editing, bioinformatics, synthetic biology, microbiomes, alternative protein sources, alternative sources for essential micronutrients, cell factories and more. See the programme, recordings and report at https://sc-fss2021.org/events/sciencedays/program/ or contact [email protected] for more information.

08/03/2022

In 2005, the FAO "Glossary of biotechnology for food and agriculture", published in 2001, was translated into Arabic in a co-publishing partnership with the United Arab Emirates University. With the fast advances in biotechnology research over the past two decades, the FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa realised there was an urgent need to revise and update this document and so entrusted the Arab Society for Plant Protection to lead the work. The revised and updated "Dictionary of biotechnological terms in food and agriculture" has just been published. The dictionary now contains 6600 terms, compared to 3200 in the earlier version, and is organized alphabetically in two sections, Arabic-English and English-Arabic, allowing the reader to easily find the relevant description of the Arabic or English terms. See https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb4260b or contact [email protected] for more information. 

07/03/2022

On 29 November 2021, the new Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) platform was launched. The BCH is a mechanism established in Article 20 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to facilitate the exchange of information on living modified organisms (LMOs) and to assist Parties in complying with their obligations under the Protocol. The BCH functions as a central information marketplace where the providers and users interact and exchange information on biosafety. All interested users can freely search and retrieve information through the BCH website. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity that provides international rules that seek to ensure an adequate level of protection to biodiversity and human health, focusing on transboundary movements of LMOs. See https://bch.cbd.int/ or contact [email protected] for more information. 

06/03/2022

The Animal Production and Health Laboratory of the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture helped the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka to initiate a study on Jaffna sheep, an endangered indigenous breed in Sri Lanka. The scope of the study was to assess the genetic diversity of the Jaffna sheep, to estimate genetic relationships between Jaffna local and South Indian sheep breeds, to assess population structure and genetic admixture in Jaffna local sheep, and to evaluate phylogenetic evolution and phylogeography of Jaffna local sheep using short tandem repeat markers and mitochondrial DNA control regions. The results of this study showed that Jaffna local sheep have low genetic diversity and a consequent high inbreeding coefficient compared to other major South Indian breeds. They also confirmed that little gene flow exists between South Indian sheep and the Jaffna local population. Taken together, these results highlight the genetic uniqueness of the breed and the urgency to implement a selective breeding programme in the native tract to prevent genetic dilution and foster conservation of this important indigenous genetic resource of Sri Lanka. This and many other stories are included in the July 2021 newsletter from the Animal Production & Health Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre. The 36-page newsletter gives an overview of their past and upcoming events, ongoing projects and publications and is issued twice a year. See https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Newsletters/aph-74.pdf or contact [email protected] for more information.

05/03/2022

Globally, the bacterial species Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus represent important human pathogens associated with the consumption of seafood. In response to the requests for scientific advice from the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene, risk assessments for the pathogens Vibrio vulnificus, Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and guidance on methods for the detection of Vibrio species with seafood have been conducted and published previously by the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA). To provide an update on the state-of-the-art advice regarding risk assessment for Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus in seafood, a JEMRA expert meeting was convened. Several critical developments in the last decade were noted by the expert working group: 1) The emergence of highly pathogenic strains 2) In response to climate change, there has been a significant geographical spread regarding when and where these seafood-associated Vibrio infections are reported 3) Demographic considerations are very important 4) A range of new approaches for best practice and 5) A range of new methods, such as those utilising genomics and satellite imagery. The report of the expert meeting has just been published, entitled "Advances in science and risk assessment tools for Vibrio parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus associated with seafood". See https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb5834en or contact [email protected] for more information. 

04/03/2022

The Plant Breeding and Genetics Section (PGS) of the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture established a mutation breeding programme for the development of Cavendish bananas resistant to the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum, a destructive pathogen that damages the roots of banana plants. In the 1990s, a new strain of the fungus appeared in Southeast Asia called TR4 which caused enormous damage to banana cultivations. TR4 poses considerable risks not only to the banana industry but also to the food security of populations in many producing countries. Spores of the fungus can remain active in the soil for more than ten years and the disease can easily spread among other plantations. Recently TR4 was reported in Latin America. In the mutation breeding programme, a large mutant population of the Cavendish banana cultivar Grande Naine was produced and screened for resistance to TR4. Eight banana mutants showed no disease symptoms after artificial inoculation, paving the way to the development of TR4 resistant bananas. More information on this project is provided in the latest issue (January 2022) of the PGS Newsletter. The newsletter gives an overview of their past and upcoming events, ongoing projects and publications and is issued twice a year. See https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Newsletters/pbg-48.pdf or contact [email protected] for more information. 

03/03/2022

Issue 40 (1) of the periodical Scientific and Technical Review, published by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), is dedicated to 'Diagnostic test validation science', which is a key element in the effective detection and control of infectious animal diseases. The primary goal of this issue is to provide an up-to-date compilation of the relevant standards (OIE and non-OIE), scientific approaches and guidance documents for all stages of diagnostic test validation and proficiency testing, including design, analysis as well as clear, complete and transparent reporting of validation studies in the peer-reviewed literature. See https://www.oie.int/en/what-we-do/publications/scientific-and-technical-review/#ui-id-4 or contact [email protected] for more information.

02/03/2022

The OECD Working Party on the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology (WP-HROB) aims to assist countries in evaluating the potential risks of genetically engineered organisms, foster communication and mutual understanding of relevant regulations in countries and facilitate harmonisation in environmental risk/safety assessment of organisms produced through modern biotechnology. The 35th meeting of the WP-HROB took place online on 1-3 March 2021. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently published a 60-page information document entitled "Developments in delegations on biosafety issues, April 2020 – March 2021", compiling elements provided by delegations at the 35th WP-HROB meeting, aiming to summarise relevant information on activities related to biosafety issues since the previous meeting (March 2020) at the international level, by collating individual contributions from OECD Members, partner countries and observer organisations participating in the work. More information on the work of the WP-HROB can be found in the latest OECD Biotechnology Update (December 2021). The 33-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of past and upcoming events, ongoing projects and publications and provides up-to-date information on the activities related to biotechnologies or the life sciences at the OECD. See https://www.oecd.org/chemicalsafety/biotrack/biotech-update-issue-40-december-2021.pdf or contact [email protected] for more information.

17/05/2021

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in cooperation with FAO, has been researching and improving the sterile insect technique (SIT) for the last 60 years to help countries combat diseases that insects carry. The SIT uses ionising radiation to sterilize male insects which are then released into target areas to breed with wild females, that then do not produce any offspring. The daily production and release of millions of sterile males that are healthy and can compete against wild males is key to a SIT programme’s success. To assist in this area, an IAEA/FAO coordinated research project entitled “Comparing rearing efficiency and competitiveness of sterile male strains produced by genetic, transgenic or symbiont-based technologies” was undertaken from 2015 to 2019, involving 18 scientists from 13 countries. Its aims were to develop novel genetic sexing strains (i.e. strains that make it possible to release sterile males only) or refine existing ones; perform quality control analysis of different strains, mainly in respect to their rearing efficiency and mating competitiveness; and assess the genetic stability of the strains. A recent IAEA news story reports that the results of the project’s research have been published in a collection of open-access journal articles. See the news story, in English and Spanish, at https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-advances-in-genetic-sex-separation-in-insect-pests-highlighted-in-new-publication or contact [email protected] for more information.

16/05/2021

The twenty-fourth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 24) and the third meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 3) take place virtually in the period 3 May to 13 June 2021. The SBSTTA 24 plenaries take place 3-4 May, 23-26 May and 7-9 June. The SBI 3 plenaries take place 16-18 May, 28-30 May and 11-13 June. The SBSTTA 24 provisional agenda includes items on 'Synthetic biology' and 'Risk assessment and risk management of living modified organisms'. The SBI 3 provisional agenda includes an item on 'Assessment and review of the effectiveness of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety'. Official meeting documents (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) and information documents (in English) for these two subsidiary bodies of the Convention on Biological Diversity are available at https://www.cbd.int/meetings/SBSTTA-24 and https://www.cbd.int/meetings/SBI-03 respectively. A media primer about the relationship between these two meetings and Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety issues is also available at https://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2021/pr-2021-05-02-bs-en.pdf. Contact [email protected] for more information. 

15/05/2021

Thanks to the development of rapid and affordable genomic sequencing technologies, it is now possible to identify the presence and function of a huge array of bacteria, viruses, protozoa and fungi as well as their theatre of action in different ecosystems. Research has shown that the gut microbiome, referring to the genomes of all microorganisms living in the gut, can influence human and animal nutrition and health. In a similar way, it has also been shown that the microbiomes of soils, rivers, lakes and oceans can affect environmental health. A recent FAO story looks at the importance of the microbiome across the food system and for the bioeconomy and discusses FAO’s role in bringing microbiome science into policy debates. See http://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1393101/ (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information.

14/05/2021

As part of its CBD Technical Series, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) published a 118-page document on synthetic biology in 2015. At its fourteenth meeting in November 2018, the Conference of the Parties to the CBD requested the Executive Secretary to update the document for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, based on the peer review of scientific information and other relevant information. Accordingly, the Secretariat updated the document. The draft is available for peer review from 3 May to 15 June 2021. Parties and observers are invited to participate in the peer review process. The draft is available at https://bch.cbd.int/synbio/peer_review. Contact [email protected] for more information. The 2015 publication is available at https://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/cbd-ts-82-en.pdf

13/05/2021

The Secretariats of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Aarhus Convention) and the Convention on Biological Diversity have jointly published a 12-page pocket guide aiming to help governments and stakeholders strengthen their capacities for effective access to information and public participation in decision-making processes regarding living modified organisms (LMOs)/genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The guide aims to support efforts to implement article 23 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Aarhus Convention, including its amendment on public participation in decisions on the deliberate release into the environment and placing on the market of genetically modified organisms (GMO amendment). It is available in English (with Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish to come) at https://unece.org/environment-policy/public-participation/gmos and http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/portal_art23/resources.shtml. Contact [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

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