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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.
01/04/2004
A discussion paper entitled "To reach the poor - Results from the ISNAR-IFPRI Next Harvest study on genetically modified crops, public research, and policy implications" by A. Atanassov and co-authors has just been published by the International Food Policy Research Institute, one of the 15 research centres supported by the CGIAR. The paper summarises information on GM crop research (209 transformation events) conducted by 76 public research institutes in 16 developing countries and transition economies. This is number 116 of the EPTD (Environment and Production Technology Division) Discussion Papers, which contain preliminary material and research results, and are circulated prior to a full peer review in order to stimulate discussion and critical comment. It is expected that most Discussion Papers will eventually be published in some other form, and that their content may also be revised. See http://www.ifpri.org/divs/eptd/dp/eptdp116.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.
09/03/2004
The summary document of the FAO e-mail conference entitled "What should be the role and focus of biotechnology in the agricultural research agendas of developing countries?" has been finalised and put on the web. Nearly 350 people subscribed for the conference, which ran from 13 November to 16 December 2002, and 128 messages were posted, about 60% coming from people living in developing countries. The 14-page document aims to provide an easy-readable synopsis of the main issues and concerns discussed by participants during the conference. It is available at http://www.fao.org/biotech/logs/C8/summary.htm or can be requested from [email protected].
08/03/2004
The UN General Assembly has designated 2004 as the International Year of Rice (IYR). As part of facilitating IYR implementation, FAO convened a Rice Conference on 12-13 February 2004 in Rome, Italy, that brought together leading experts from around the world to present their perspectives on latest trends and industry developments. Some of the papers presented dealt partly or fully with the topic of biotechnology, such as "Potentials and limitations of biotechnology in rice" by R. Coffman, S.R. McCouch and R.W. Herdt. See http://www.fao.org/rice2004/en/e-001.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.
07/03/2004
The annotated list of on-line documents available on the FAO Biotechnology website has recently been updated. It currently provides web links to 90 articles, books, meeting reports, proceedings and studies published by FAO, or prepared in collaboration with FAO, in recent years concerning biotechnology in food and agriculture. The webpage ( http://www.fao.org/biotech/doc.asp) is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish and many of the documents are available in several languages. For more information, contact [email protected].
06/03/2004
Plant Breeding and Genetics Newsletter No. 12 (January 2004) has now been published by the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and the FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory. The 24-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of their past and upcoming events (meetings, training courses etc.), ongoing projects and publications. See http://www.iaea.org/programmes/nafa/d2/public/pbg-nl-12.pdf (1.1 MB) or contact [email protected] for further information.
05/03/2004
The 1st meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 1) took place on 23-27 February 2004 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It concluded with the adoption of decisions on: decision procedures; information sharing and the Biosafety Clearing-House; capacity-building; handling, transport, packaging and identification of living modified organisms (LMOs); compliance procedures and mechanisms; a process to elaborate rules and procedures for liability and redress; monitoring and reporting; the programme budget; guidance to the financial mechanism (i.e. the Global Environment Facility); and the medium term programme of work for the period between the second and fifth meeting of COP-MOP. See daily updates and press reports at http://www.biodiv.org/meetings/mop-01/press/default.asp; official documents (available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) and information documents (mostly in English only) at http://www.biodiv.org/meetings/mop-01/docs.aspx; or contact [email protected] for further information.
04/03/2004
The 7th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 7) took place on 9-20 February 2004 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A wide range of issues were dealt with, some related directly or indirectly to agricultural biotechnology. Daily updates and press reports are available at http://www.biodiv.org/meetings/cop-07/press; official documents, including draft decisions, (almost all available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) and information documents (mostly in English only) at http://www.biodiv.org/meetings/cop-07/docs.aspx; or contact [email protected] for further information.
03/03/2004
A pre-publication version of the study by A.K. Gupta entitled "The role of intellectual property rights in the sharing of benefits arising from the use of biological resources and traditional knowledge", commissioned by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was presented at COP 7, held on 9-20 February 2004 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Three case studies are considered in the publication, including a 35-page study of the patenting of the gene Xa21 of wild rice from Mali, conferring resistance to bacterial rice blight. See http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2004/wipo_pr_2004_373.html (press release, available in English, French and Spanish, linking to the study) or contact [email protected] for more information.
02/03/2004
The Millennium Project is the independent advisory body to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that is commissioned with recommending, by June 2005, operational strategies for meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Ten task forces carry out the bulk of the Millennium Projects analytical work. The mandate of task force 2 (on Hunger) is to produce a plan for humanity to reduce the proportion of hungry and malnourished people in half by the year 2015. Task force 10 (on Science, Technology and Innovation) is to develop operational strategies on how science, technology and innovation can help achieve the MDGs. The task forces recently released their interim reports for public discussion (both about 200 pages). See http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/html/interim_reports.shtm. Comments are welcome and should be sent to [email protected] (task force 2) or to [email protected] and [email protected] (task force 10).
01/03/2004
As part of the IFPRI "Research at a Glance" series, which aims to provide concise, comprehensive information on complex research issues to researchers and policy analysts, a series of six briefs on biotechnology and genetic resource policies, dealing with issues related to the ex situ genebank and its collection, has been published. See http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/rag/br1002.htm or contact the series editors ( [email protected] or [email protected]) for more information.
08/02/2004
The final report of the FAO/WHO expert consultation on the "Safety assessment of foods derived from genetically modified animals, including fish", held on 17-21 November 2003 in Rome, Italy, is now on the web. An official publication of the report in English, French and Spanish will be issued in the next 2-3 months under the FAO Food and Nutrition Paper Series. See http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/food/risk_biotech_animal_en.stm (431 KB) or contact [email protected] for more information.
07/02/2004
Asian Bio-Net, the website of the FAO project on Capacity Building in Biosafety of GM Crops in Asia, based at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, has recently been launched. The project, supported by the Government of Japan, was formulated to "assist countries in the region in safe harnessing of the benefits of biotechnology in accordance with relevant global agreements on the subject". The website, which is still being expanded, currently contains information about the project and its activities, including the 28-page proceedings of the projects first regional consultation held on 7-10 July 2003 in Bangkok, Thailand. See http://asiabionet.org or contact [email protected] for more information.
06/02/2004
As part of the FAO Plant Production and Protection Series, FAO`s Crop and Grassland Service has just published "Bread wheat: Improvement and production" on the web. The book, edited by B.C. Curtis, S. Rajaram and H. Gómez Macpherson, provides extensive information from a number of international experts on the current status of research on wheat improvement and production, as well as on other aspects, from its evolutionary origins to seed production technologies. Of the 29 chapters, 9 deal with genetics and breeding (including, for example, one on "The application of biotechnology to wheat improvement"), 11 with pests and diseases and 5 with management. See http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/Y4011E/Y4011E00.HTM or contact [email protected] to request a copy.
05/02/2004
The 32nd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling takes place on 10-14 May 2004 in Montréal, Canada. One of the items (nr. 6) on the agenda deals with "Labelling of foods and food ingredients obtained through certain techniques of genetic modification / genetic engineering". The working documents and agenda are available at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp (in English, French and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for further information.
04/02/2004
A manual entitled "Guidelines and recommendations for improving artificial breeding of cattle in Africa", which "is aimed at all levels of administrative and technical personnel involved in the provision of artificial insemination services to cattle farmers in Africa" has just been published on the web. This 63-page working document is an output from a technical co-operation project entitled "Improving and increasing milk and meat production", implemented by IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) and AFRA (the African Co-operative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology), with technical support of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. See http://www.iaea.org/programmes/nafa/d3/public/afra-oct03.pdf (2 MB) or contact [email protected] for further information
03/02/2004
The December 2003 newsletter (nr. 39) from the Animal Production and Health Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and the FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory is now available. The 28-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of past and upcoming projects, publications and events and contains many items directly related to agricultural biotechnology. See http://www.iaea.org/programmes/nafa/d3/public/ap-nl-39.pdf (458 KB) or contact [email protected] to be put on the mailing list for the newsletter.
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