On 8 May 2015, Food Safety and Quality Unit (AGDF) of FAO organized a Seminar by Nobel Laureate, Dr Andrew Fire, entitled “What is RNAi and why it is relevant to our Food?”

Dr Fire spoke about how RNAi was discovered. Starting from the first unexpected observations that exogenous RNA fragments can inhibit the expression of complementary genes in Fungi, Plants, and Caenorhabditis elegans, Dr Fire elaborated on how the underlying molecular processes of this process were subsequently further unraveled. In the second part of his presentation Dr Fire specifically addressed the potential applications of RNAi in the food and agricultural sector.

In the 6-page report published in August 2015, a detailed summary of the presentation delivered by Dr Fire and a written record of the questions and answers session held after the presentation are included.

Report is available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-az428e.pdf