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FAO-Biotech-News <[log in to unmask]>
Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:54:04 +0100
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Dear Subscribers,

Here is Update 1-2013 of FAO-BiotechNews. As usual, we welcome any feedback you have about this Update. 

We also encourage you to tell your colleagues about FAO-BiotechNews. The newsletter is published in six different versions, one per language i.e. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish. If any of your colleagues wish to subscribe, they can send a message to [log in to unmask] indicating which e-mail addresses are to be subscribed and in which language they wish to receive the newsletter. Alternatively, they can subscribe themselves. Instructions for people to subscribe or unsubscribe themselves are provided at the end of this message.

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With best wishes

John

John Ruane
The Coordinator of FAO-BiotechNews, 17-1-2013
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
E-mail address: mailto:[log in to unmask]
FAO Biotechnology website http://www.fao.org/biotech/en/ (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish)

*** NEWS *** (http://www.fao.org/biotech/biotech-news/en/)

1) GMOs in the pipeline: E-conference summary 

The FAO e-mail conference on "GMOs in the pipeline: Looking to the next five years in the crop, forestry, livestock, aquaculture and agro-industry sectors in developing countries" took place from 5 November to 2 December 2012. The 11-page summary document is now available, entitled "An FAO e-mail conference on GMOs in the pipeline in developing countries: The moderator's summary", by J. Ruane. The document provides a summary of the main issues discussed by participants during this 4-week conference based on the 109 messages that were posted. From the e-mail conference, a picture emerged of a GMO pipeline that contains a considerable quantity and variety of products, indicating that the new GMOs likely to be released in developing countries within the next five years will continue to be dominated by the crop sector, where a broad range of new crop by trait combinations are in the pipeline, but may also see increased focus on new areas such as GM fish, insects and trees. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/ap998e/ap998e.pdf (90 KB) or contact [log in to unmask] to request a copy. All e-mail messages posted in the conference are available at http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/biotech/docs/conf18msgs.pdf (0.9 MB).

2) Global Conference on Aquaculture proceedings

On 22-25 September 2010, the Global Conference on Aquaculture 2010 took place in Phuket, Thailand, jointly organized by FAO, the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) and the Royal Thai Department of Fisheries. It brought together a wide-ranging group of experts and important stakeholders to review aquaculture progress and the further potential of this sector, as a basis for improving the positioning of the sector and its mandate within the global community. The conference proceedings are now available on the web, entitled "Farming the waters for people and food", edited by R.P. Subasinghe et al. Most of the 896-page proceedings is dedicated to a series of 19 expert panel reviews, three of which consider in some detail the use of biotechnologies in aquaculture, namely expert panel review 1.2 on "Novel and emerging technologies: Can they contribute to improving aquaculture sustainability?" (by C.L. Browdy et al); 3.1 on "Promoting responsible use and conservation of aquatic biodiversity for sustainable aquaculture development" (J.A.H. Benzie et al); and 3.3 on "Improving biosecurity: A necessity for aquaculture sustainability" (M. Hine et al). See http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2734e/i2734e00.htm or contact [log in to unmask] for more information. 

3) Laboratory manual on GMO detection - English and Arabic 

In 2008, FAO approved a two-year Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) project in the Near East and North Africa region entitled "Strengthening capacities towards the establishment of a regional platform for the detection of genetically modified organisms", with Jordan, Lebanon, the Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen as the six participating countries. As part of this TCP project, an advanced training course on "Detection of genetically modified organisms and biosafety for food and agriculture" took place in Aleppo, Syria on 19-24 June 2010, jointly organized by FAO, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the General Commission for Scientific and Agricultural Research (GCSAR). In the context of this training course, a laboratory manual on GMO detection was prepared, edited by A.M. Abdul Kader et al, which is now available on the web. The first half of the 322-page publication is in English while the second half is in Arabic. See https://apps.icarda.org/wsInternet/wsInternet.asmx/DownloadFileToLocal?filePath=Tools_and_guidelines/Laboratory_manual.pdf&fileName=Laboratory_manual.pdf (10.5 MB) or contact [log in to unmask] for more information. 

4) Proceedings of First Asia Dairy Goat Conference

On 9-12 April 2012, the First Asia Dairy Goat Conference took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, organized by FAO, the Universiti Putra Malaysia and the International Dairy Federation, providing a platform to share technical information and experiences and to network for the promotion of dairy goat farming. The 229-page proceedings of the conference are now available, edited by R. Abdullah et al, containing the keynote and plenary addresses as well as research papers covering various disciplines including nutrition, breeding and genetics, milk and milk products and socio-economics of goat production. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i2891e/i2891e00.htm or contact [log in to unmask] for more information. 

5) Final reports of COP-MOP 6 and COP-11

The final reports of the 6th meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 6), held on 1-5 October 2012 in Hyderabad, India, and of the 11th Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-11), held in the same place on 8-19 October 2012, are now available in all six UN languages, i.e. in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. See http://bch.cbd.int/mop6/documents/ and http://www.cbd.int/cop11/doc/ respectively or contact [log in to unmask] for more information. 

6) OECD Biotechnology Update 24

Issue number 24 (December 2012) of the OECD Biotechnology Update, prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Internal Co-ordination Group for Biotechnology, is now available. The 32-page newsletter provides updated information on OECD activities related to biotechnology. See http://www.oecd.org//env/chemicalsafetyandbiosafety/biosafety-biotrack/oecdbiotechnologynewsletterupdates.htm or contact [log in to unmask] for more information.

7) Training manuals on tissue culture of bananas

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has recently published two manuals, based on the training notes for courses of banana tissue culture nursery operators and farmers in East Africa, facilitated by IITA and Volunteer Efforts for Development Concern (VEDCO). The manuals, both by M. Lule et al, are organized into a small number of modules, each divided into sessions (based on actual training sessions carried out in Central Uganda). The first, entitled "Trainer's manual: A training course on setting up and running a banana tissue culture nursery", is for people involved with training of nursery operators, such as extension agents or applied scientists. This 88-page book contains four modules, i.e. introduction to tissue culture bananas; business planning and business skills for nursery operators; practical management of a banana tissue culture nursery; and marketing for nursery operators. The second, entitled "Trainer's manual: A training course for banana farmers interested in growing tissue culture bananas", is for people involved with training of smallholder tissue culture farmers, such as extension agents or applied scientists. This 126-page book contains five modules, i.e. introduction to tissue culture bananas; working in groups; how to grow tissue culture bananas; business skills for farmers; and marketing for farmers. See http://www.iita.org/web/iita/publications or contact [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] for more information.

*** EVENTS *** (http://www.fao.org/biotech/biotech-events/en/)

27-30 May 2013, Rome, Italy. International symposium on genetics and breeding of durum wheat. Organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and National Academy of Sciences, the programme of this scientific symposium covers the origin and evolution of durum wheat; genetic resources and germplasm enhancement; breeding strategies and tools; adaptation and sustainability; disease and pest resistance; technological and nutritional quality; and structural and functional genomics. See http://dwis.accademiaxl.it/index.php or contact [log in to unmask] for more information.

7 June 2013, Berlin, Germany. New approaches to diagnosis: Opportunities and challenges. This 1-day seminar is organized by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and takes place during the 16th International Symposium of the World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians. See http://www.wavld2013-berlin.com/index.php?id=537&L=1 or contact [log in to unmask] for more information.

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This newsletter contains news and events items relevant to agricultural biotechnologies in developing countries. Its main focus is on the activities of FAO, other UN agencies/bodies and the 15 CGIAR research centres. Items from the newsletter may be reproduced, provided that the source (FAO-BiotechNews, http://www.fao.org/biotech/) is given. 

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