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Moderated conference on Genomics in Food and Agriculture

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Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:30:50 +0100
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This is from Professor John Gibson, Director of The Centre for Genetic Analysis and Applications, Armidale, Australia.

The discussion so far has covered multiple types of use of genomic technologies. I suggest that for both plants and animals it useful to distinguish three broad categories of use:

1) Use to gain information (research) that assists in the subsequent development process (e.g. characterising plant gene bank accessions or livestock breeds; assessing endemic pathogen diversity).

2) Use to develop new products (e.g. improved crop varieties; improved livestock breeds, non-genomic diagnostics, etc) that are then disseminated to aid development.

3) Use in ongoing applications in the field (e.g. genomic assisted breeding of livestock; genomic diagnostic tools)

In the case of 1 and 2, the genomic technologies are used for a discrete period of time and usually only in a single location. In case 3, long-term (ongoing) expertise and facilities are required for genomic technologies and supply chains into and back from the field are required. Comparing 1 vs 2, maintenance of genomic expertise/facilities will generally be required for much longer periods for 2 than for 1, since generation of new products generally takes longer than generation of new knowledge. As with most advanced technologies, maintenance of expertise and facilities for genomic technologies require much supporting infrastructure to be in place; establishment of genomic expertise and facilities in-country will be much easier when the need is for a discrete period of time only rather than an on-going need, where sustainability of such expertise/facilities and their operations will be difficult and expensive to ensure in many situations. 

In summary, applications of genomic technology face increased challenges to sustainability as they move from categories 1), through 2) to 3) and this should be taken into account when making predictions about potential to add value to plant and livestock systems in the developing world.  

Professor John Gibson
Director, The Centre for Genetic Analysis and Applications
Coordinator, International Development Activities
School of Environmental and Rural Science
C.J. Hawkins Homestead
University of New England
Armidale, NSW 2351
Australia
tel: +61 02 6773 2930
fax: +61 02 6773 3922
mobile: +61 0437 039951
email: jgibson5 (at) une.edu.au    

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