ISAAA Biotech Crops Adoption Report 2014 Launched in Egypt

More than 200 participants attended a one day workshop entitled "The Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2014" held on March 8, 2015 at Cairo University. The conference was held under his auspices Prof. Dr. Sherief Hamad, Minister of Scientific Research and Prof. Dr Mohamed Sakr, President of the Academy of Science Research and Technology.

In his keynote speech, Prof. Dr. Gaber Nassar, president of Cairo University, stressed the importance of science and technology in promoting Egyptian economy and guiding Egypt to a better tomorrow. He also encouraged young scientists in the audience to take the lead in studying the new technologies, including those that address agricultural problems in Egypt. 

Prof. Dr. Hany El-Shimy, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, presented the initiatives of the Faculty in promoting agricultural biotechnology and acknowledged the role of the Egyptian Biotechnology Information Center (EBIC) in transferring the correct concept of biotech crops to the people. Prof. Dr. Naglaa Abdallah, Director of EBIC, presented the highlights of the ISAAA report. She also demonstrated the different activities of EBIC.

The workshop also included presentations on biotech crops being developed by Egyptian scientists to address problems faced by main Egyptian crops—cotton, corn, and wheat as well as activities that aim to produce biofuel covered by Dr. Hassan Dahi, the vice President of Plant Protection Research Institute (PPRI) at ARC and Dr. Walid Fouad from American University in Cairo (AUC). Also, Dr. Taher Salah, Director of Nanotechnolgy Institute, ARC presented the application of nanobiotechnology and safety aspects.

After the presentations, an open discussion was conducted to address questions raised by the audience and media representatives about biotech crops.

For more details about the event, visit the E-BIC website or contact nabdallah.ebic@gmail.com.