Biotech Updates

During the annual APEC High-Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology (HLPDAB) Meeting in Can Tho, Vietnam on August 20, 2017, the agenda included agricultural biotechnology policies, promotion of public-private partnerships in agricultural biotechnology research and applications, and the use of agricultural biotechnology in response to climate change.

South American Agriculture Ministers Urge EU & China to Stop Delaying GMO Import Authorizations

Agriculture Ministers from five countries in South America have urged the European Union (EU) and China to stop delaying GMO import authorizations. The Agriculture Ministers of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay participated in the XXXIV Regular Meeting of the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) in San Pablo, Brazil on August 29, 2017.

Policy Reforms Key in Biotech/GM Crops Adoption in Africa

COMESA member states through its specialized agency ACTESA - Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa have acknowledged the need for rigorous reforms on policies governing adoption of GM crops in Africa. This was during a two-day regional sensitization workshop on agri-biotech and biosafety held on August 30, 2017 in Kenya. The workshop brought together representatives from six COMESA member states actively involved in biotech research, the East African Community (EAC) and key private sector players.

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing in MicroRNA of Rice

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs with roles in plant development and stress responses. Loss-of-function analysis of miRNA genes has been challenging due to the lack of suitable knockout tools. A team of scientists from various universities, led by Jian-Ping Zhou from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, aim to study miRNA genes, specifically OsMIR528, in rice using CRISPR-Cas9.