As part of its Economic Research Working Paper series, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently published “Global roots of innovation in plant biotechnology” by G.D. Graff and I. Hamdan-Livramento. The 43-page paper aims to trace the evolution of the global innovation landscape of plant biotechnology in recent decades. It uses information from patent documents and scientific publications to identify the sources of innovation in plant biotechnology, where they are located and how they connect to each other. Available at https://www.wipo.int/publications/en/details.jsp?id=4473

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recently published a 39-page study entitled “Synthetic biology and its potential implications for BioTrade and access and benefit-sharing”. Synthetic biology was identified as an emerging issue meriting further research at the first meeting of the UNCTAD BioTrade Initiative Stakeholder Steering Committee meeting on 17 May 2018. This study was developed based on this request in order to provide guidance and further comprehension of the topic, especially its implications for BioTrade (which refers to activities of collection, production, transformation and commercialization of goods and services derived from native biodiversity under the criteria of environmental, social and economic sustainability). See https://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=2554 or contact [email protected] for more information.

The January 2020 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 40-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of past and upcoming training courses, meetings, projects, news stories and publications related to their work which is in three main areas: animal nutrition, animal reproduction, breeding and genetics and animal health. See https://www.iaea.org/publications/search/type/animal-production-and-health-newsletter or contact [email protected] for more information.

The January 2020 newsletter from the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture is now available. The 40-page newsletter gives an overview of their past and upcoming events (meetings, training courses etc.), ongoing projects and publications and is issued twice a year. See http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/pbg/public/newsletters-pbg.html or contact [email protected] for more information.

FAO has just released a major publication on “The state of the world's aquatic genetic resources for food and agriculture”, a 251-page report which assesses the current understanding and use of aquatic genetic resources (AqGR) for the benefit and sustainability of aquaculture. It investigates the trends and looks at the roles of current AqGR stakeholders, research, education and legislation. The main body of information synthesized in the report came from country reports submitted by 92 governments, in response to a questionnaire prepared by FAO. The questionnaire contained a number of specific questions about use of a range of biotechnologies that can be applied to characterise and develop AqGR and the FAO report presents data on the levels of application of these technologies with selective breeding being the most widely applied. The report also drew on five specially commissioned thematic background studies, one of which was dedicated to “Genome-based biotechnologies in aquaculture”, written by Zhanjiang Liu. See the related press release at http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1205417/icode/ (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Italian, Russian and Spanish), the report at http://www.fao.org/3/ca5256en/CA5256EN.pdf (5.8 MB) and the thematic background study at http://www.fao.org/aquatic-genetic-resources/background/sow/background-studies/en/.

The FAO Regional Meeting on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition in Asia-Pacific took place on 11-13 September 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For this meeting, FAO commissioned Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a New Delhi-based policy research institute, to prepare a regional background study to assess the status of application, capacities and the enabling environment for agricultural biotechnologies in the crop, livestock, forestry and fisheries/aquaculture sectors in the Asia-Pacific region. This 173-page working document, entitled “The status of application, capacities and the enabling environment for agricultural biotechnologies in the Asia-Pacific Region” has recently been published, as well as a related 4-page policy brief entitled “Realizing the potential of agricultural biotechnology in the Asia-Pacific region”. See the meeting website at http://www.fao.org/asiapacific/events/detail-events/en/c/1440/, the background study at http://www.fao.org/3/ca4438en/ca4438en.pdf (2.3 MB) and the policy brief at http://www.fao.org/3/ca5106en/ca5106en.pdf (6 MB) or contact [email protected] for further information.

A number of major FAO publications on agricultural biotechnologies are currently available on request. These include the proceedings (organized in eight chapters covering the main highlights) of the FAO international symposium on “The role of agricultural biotechnologies in sustainable food systems and nutrition” which took place on 15-17 February 2016 at FAO headquarters, Rome (on the web at http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/66e9a36c-19b2-407a-83c9-5b767e233417/); the 2013 book entitled “Biotechnologies at work for smallholders: Case studies from developing countries in crops, livestock and fish” which documents a series of 19 case studies (on the web at http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3403e/i3403e00.htm); the "Biosafety resource book", consisting of five modules, based on materials from training courses organized by FAO from 2002 to 2010 (on the web at http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i1905e/i1905e00.htm); and the proceedings (containing ten chapters with an extensive series of FAO background documents and five chapters dedicated to the outcomes) of the FAO international technical conference on "Agricultural biotechnologies in developing countries: Options and opportunities in crops, forestry, livestock, fisheries and agro-industry to face the challenges of food insecurity and climate change" (ABDC-10), which took place in Guadalajara, Mexico on 1-4 March 2010 (on the web at http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2300e/i2300e00.htm). To request a copy of one or more of these publications, please send your full postal address to [email protected].  

The 17th Regular Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) took place on 18-22 February 2019 in Rome, Italy. Agenda item 4 was dedicated to “’Digital sequence information’ on genetic resources for food and agriculture”. The CGRFA considered a working document (number CGRFA-17/19/4) on “’Digital sequence information’ on genetic resources for food and agriculture and its relevance for food security”. It also took note of an 86-page background study paper entitled “Exploratory fact-finding scoping study on “digital sequence information” on genetic resources for food and agriculture”, by J.A. Heinemann, D.S. Coray and D.S. Thaler. The Commission’s Session report and working documents of the Session (all in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) as well as the background study paper, are available at http://www.fao.org/cgrfa/meetings/detail/en/c/1153541/. More information about “digital sequence information” is available at http://www.fao.org/cgrfa/topics/digital-sequence-information/en/. Contact [email protected] for more information. 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.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and FAO recently published the 3rd edition of the “Manual on mutation breeding”, edited by M. Spencer-Lopes, B.P. Forster and L. Jankuloski. Following the 2nd edition which was published in 1977, this 299-page book describes advances in plant mutation breeding, including basic irradiation techniques as well as chemical mutagenesis, in both seed-propagated and vegetatively propagated crops. The manual provides comprehensive overviews and guidelines for new high-throughput screening methods - both phenotypic and genotypic - that are currently available to enable the detection of rare and valuable mutant traits and reviews techniques for increasing the efficiency of crop mutation breeding. It provides practical hands-on methods in plant mutation breeding techniques, with clear illustrated step-by-step protocols. See http://www.fao.org/3/I9285EN/i9285en.pdf (12.6 MB) or contact [email protected] for more information.

An FAO project to strengthen national capacity on genetically modified (GM) food safety assessment is ongoing in Bhutan. Officials from the Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (BAFRA) have been trained through a workshop on "Training on genetically modified (GM) food safety assessment, risk communication and advocacies programme" which took place on 23-27 July 2018 in Thimphu, Bhutan. A training workshop on “GM food safety assessment: Using a real case study” also took place on 4-15 February 2019 in Paro, Bhutan, using a real-case dossier. Summary reports of these workshops are available at http://www.fao.org/3/CA1436EN/ca1436en.pdf (1 MB) and http://www.fao.org/3/ca4442en/ca4442en.pdf (1 MB) respectively. Contact [email protected] for further information.

On 28-29 June 2018, the “OECD conference on genome editing: Applications in agriculture – Implications for health, environment and regulation” took place at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) headquarters in Paris, France. The conference provided the opportunity to learn and discuss genome editing techniques, their current development and applications in agriculture, the science-based safety considerations associated with their use, and the status of related regulatory frameworks in different countries. Proceedings of the conference are now available. See https://www.oecd.org/environment/genome-editing-agriculture/ or contact [email protected] for more information.

The FAO Regional Meeting on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition in Asia-Pacific took place on 11-13 September 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The meeting was hosted and co-organised by the Government of Malaysia.

It was the first of four regional meetings that FAO is planning to organise in 2017-2018 as a follow-up to the FAO International Symposium on The Role of Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition, which took place on 15-17 February 2016 at FAO Headquarters, Rome.

The regional meeting brought together about 200 representatives of governments; intergovernmental organizations; private sector entities; academia and research institutions; and civil society organizations and producer organizations. The meeting encompassed a wide spectrum of available biotechnologies used in forestry, crops, livestock and aquaculture/fisheries, from low- to high-tech.

The 2.5-day meeting consisted of presentations by 42 speakers and moderated discussions during 9 plenary and 6 parallel sessions dedicated to a wide range of issues concerning agricultural biotechnologies in the region, including investments; dissemination, adoption and use of biotechnologies (and their social and economic impacts); regional innovation opportunities; regulation, policies and intellectual property rights; genetic resources for food and agriculture; nutrition; climate change and south-south cooperation.

Ahead of the meeting, the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific produced four short videos with real examples of biotechnologies being applied to meet the needs of smallholders in Asia-Pacific. They covered the use of: artificial insemination and semen sexing in dairy cows for milk production in Nepal; DNA-based diagnostics and probiotics for disease management in shrimp populations in Thailand; DNA marker-assisted selection to develop Swarna-Sub1, a rice variety tolerant to floods in India; and tissue culture for propagating tree planting stock for agroforestry in Thailand. On the first day of the meeting, FAO also released a news story entitled “Improved access to agricultural biotechnologies needed to help defeat hunger, malnutrition and poverty in the Asia-Pacific region”.

The meeting website provides links to a wide range of material related to the event, including links to the press release, the new videos, frequently asked questions (FAQs) as well as the final agenda and abstracts of presentations made. All further materials from the meeting, such as the speakers’ presentations, will also be available on the website in the near future. See http://www.fao.org/asiapacific/events/detail-events/en/c/1440/ or contact [email protected] for further information.

On 22-24 November 2017, the FAO Regional Meeting on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa will take place at the African Union Conference Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting will be hosted and co-organized by the Government of Ethiopia. It is the second regional meeting to be organised as a follow-up to the FAO International Symposium on The Role of Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition, which took place on 15-17 February 2016 at FAO Headquarters, Rome.

The target audience for the regional meeting includes representatives of governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-state actors in Sub-Saharan Africa. The term ‘non-state actors’ refers to civil society organizations; private sector entities (including philanthropic foundations); academia and research institutions; and cooperatives and producer organizations.

Representatives of non-state actors in Sub-Saharan Africa wishing to participate in the regional meeting are encouraged to visit the meeting website at http://www.fao.org/africa/events/detail-events/en/c/1035227/. Information is available there on the requirements for non-state actor participation as well as a link to the call of interest application form. The deadline for expression of interest is 30 September 2017. For more information, please contact [email protected]  

On 11-13 September 2017, FAO will organize the Regional Meeting on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition in Asia-Pacific. The meeting takes place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and is hosted and co-organised by the Government of Malaysia. 

It is the first of four regional meetings that FAO is planning to organise in 2017-2018. The second one will be in the Sub-Saharan Africa region in 2017, while there are two planned for 2018 - in Latin America and the Caribbean and in North Africa and the Near East. The regional meetings are planned as a follow-up to the FAO International Symposium on The Role of Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition, which took place on 15-17 February 2016 at FAO Headquarters, Rome. 

During the Symposium, the importance of bringing the dialogue from the global to the regional level was highlighted by participants. In closing the Symposium, the FAO Director-General concluded: “Now FAO has to move forward. We intend to bring the debate to a regional perspective. We want to hear from governments, farmers and researchers of all regions about their needs and concerns regarding biotechnology”. 

The aim of the 2016 Symposium was to explore the application of biotechnologies for the benefit of smallholders in developing sustainable food systems and improving nutrition in the context of climate change. The FAO Regional Meeting on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Asia-Pacific will bring the dialogue and exchange of knowledge and experiences regarding biotechnologies to the regional level, using a multisector approach covering the crop, livestock, forestry and fishery sectors. It will also aim to cover the wide spectrum of available biotechnologies, from low- to high-tech, including microbial food fermentation, tissue culture in crops or trees, reproductive technologies in livestock, DNA-based kits to diagnose diseases in farmed fish, use of molecular markers, genetic modification and other biotechnologies. 

The target audience for the regional meeting in Malaysia includes representatives of governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-state actors in the Asia-Pacific region. The term ‘non-state actors’ refers to civil society organizations; private sector entities (including philanthropic foundations); academia and research institutions; and cooperatives and producer organizations. Representatives of non-state actors are now invited to express their interest in attending the regional meeting. To do so, please fill out the short form that is available at http://www.fao.org/asiapacific/events/detail-events/en/c/1440/. The deadline for expression of interest is 30 June 2017. For more information about this call for representatives of non-state actors to express an interest in attending this regional meeting, please contact [email protected].

The 25th session of the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) took place at FAO Headquarters, Rome on 26-30 September 2016. One of the documents discussed was “Achieving sustainable rural development through agricultural innovation” (COAG/2016/6), which encompassed the issue of agricultural biotechnologies. The “Summary report of the FAO International Symposium on the Role of Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition (Rome, 15-17 February 2016)” was also provided to COAG as an information document (COAG/2016/INF/5). All documents, including the meeting report, are available at http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/coag/coag-25/list-of-documents/en/ (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). COAG normally meets every two years and is one of FAO’s Governing Bodies providing overall policy and regulatory guidance on issues relating to agriculture, livestock, food safety, nutrition, rural development and natural resource management. For more information, contact [email protected].

On 23-25 May 2016, FAO held a technical meeting at FAO Headquarters, Rome on the impact of whole genome sequencing (WGS) on food safety management, together with the 9th meeting of the Global Microbial Identifier. The meeting was attended by 175 participants from 50 countries and dealt with a range of topics including benefits and potential drawbacks of WGS, considerations for developing countries, key needs for global actions and potential roles of international organizations, existing initiatives on WGS of pathogens, global capacity for identification and characterization of pathogens, issues relevant to epidemiology and surveillance, issues around global data-sharing, and technical discussions on metagenomics. The 53-page meeting report is now available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i6582e.pdf (950 KB). On a related subject, FAO organized a side event on 20 September 2016 dedicated to “Application of genome sequencing for sustainable agriculture and food security” during the 25th session of the FAO Committee on Agriculture. The 9-page report of the side event is available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-bq675e.pdf (1 MB). For more information, contact [email protected].