This is Sudarsono, from the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Bogor, Indonesia. I am a university lecturer who runs a plant molecular biology lab (PMB Lab) where a number of PhD and MSc students are conducting their thesis and dissertation researches.
Regarding the topic of discussion "what have been the impacts (positive and/or negative) so far of genomics and the other 'omics' for the crop, forestry, livestock, fishery and agro-industry sectors in developing countries?":
I can only comment on the crop aspect. My impression about the genomics and the other omics to Indonesians are as follow:
(1) At the academic and scientific level. Application of molecular markers have been employed by academics in the universities and research scientists in a number of research institutes in Indonesia. These markers have been employed to answer a number of academic questions and research exercises in a number of important crops in Indonesia.
Genomic research has just been initiated by local scientists for only one to two years ago. Therefore there has been no clear impact to the crop research yet. As an academic, I recognize the potential of genomics data for generating huge scales of molecular markers. Therefore, plant genomics and other omics data for tropical crops may have the potential to give a significantly positive impacts. However, limited availability of genomic data for tropical crops may hamper the usefulness of the genomics and other omics in developing countries such as Indonesia.
A number of major tropical crops are important sources of food, feed, and energy in Indonesia. Unfortunately, these crops may not be as important to scientists in the developed countries. Therefore, generating genomic sequences from a number of important tropical crops need to be initiated by local scientists. I have heard the success of Indian scientists in completing the chickpea genome sequence. However, more genome sequencing of tropical crops are still needed to be generated. Availability of such genomic sequences will eventually help the better understanding of the tropical crops and unlock the potential application of molecular techniques for improving them.
(2) At the farmers level, however, no direct impacts of genomics and other omics for tropical crops has been realized yet. Research and academic activities applied by research scientists and university lectures have not resulted in a significant contribution that can directly benefit Indonesian farmers in general.
However, there are a number of multi-national companies that are major producers of maize seeds and selling the seeds to Indonesian farmers. To my understanding, these companies have routinely used molecular markers in their maize breeding programs to develop desirable maize cultivars. If that is true, therefore, the Indonesian farmers as a user of the maize seeds may have actually indirectly benefited significantly by being able to access superior F1 maize hybrids cultivars.
A number of genetically engineered maize lines with herbicide tolerance and/or insect resistances have also been in the pipelines for commercial release in Indonesia. However, it may still take a couple of years before these genetically engineered maize will be available commercially. Therefore, their impact to Indonesian farmers may still be a subject of evaluation. Moreover, negative sentiments about transgenic products commercialized by multi-national companies introduced by a number of vocal non-gevernmental organization (NGO) and the "uncertain or mixed" view and policy about transgenic products between different ministries under the government of Indonesia may also potentially pose problems for commercialization of transgenic crops.
Regarding the topic of discussion "What are the impacts (positive and/or negative) of genomics and other 'omics' likely to be in the near future (e.g. the next five years) for the crop, forestry, livestock, fishery and agro-industry sectors in developing countries?":
I would be confident that either directly or indirectly, the genomics and other omics in crops would likely give a positive impact in the near future. I believe that a number of genomic works that have been initiated in the last two years within Indonesia will actually add positive value toward understanding of a number of tropical crops. At least at the academic and scientific level, the genomic data generated within Indonesia and those produced abroad will certainly contribute significantly toward the dynamic of research activities conducted by Indonesian scientists. Similar to what has happened today, the general farmers will be indirectly benefited by the genomics and other omics through the availability of superior cultivar produced both locally and by multi-national companies.
In term of academic and scientific activities, a number of academics and research scientists have been able to generate either partial or total genome sequences and RNA seq from target crops. However, data handling and analysis of genomic sequences and RNA seq have been a major handicap. Indonesian scientists in general may need some upgrading in their competence for data handling and analysis of genomic sequences and RNA seq and for drawing useful and informative information more effectively and efficiently from such data.
Finally, I would appreciate the organizer for giving us an opportunity to participate in this e-mail conference. Although I may not be able to contribute significantly, I am learning a lot by participating in the program. Thank you.
Prof. Dr. Sudarsono, MSc. (Sudar)
PMB Lab, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture,
Bogor Agricultural university (IPB),
Jl. Meranti - Darmaga Campus,
Bogor 16680
Indonesia
Email: s_sudarsono (at) ymail.com
Blog: http://pmblab.wordpress.com
[Regarding RNA seq, mentioned at the end of the message: "Next generation DNA sequencing technologies are driving increasingly rapid, affordable and high resolution analyses of plant transcriptomes through sequencing of their associated cDNA populations; an analytical platform commonly referred to as RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq)" (Martin L., Fei Z, Giovannoni J, Rose JK. (2013) Catalyzing Plant Science Research with RNA-seq. Front Plant Sci 4:66). See http://www.rna-seqblog.com/ for more information on the RNA seq approach...Moderator].
[To contribute to this conference, send your message to [log in to unmask] For further information on this FAO Biotechnology Forum, see http://www.fao.org/biotech/biotech-forum/]
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