International Online Discourses Provide Global Updates on Animal Gene Editing and Biotechnology

Virtual Workshop on Regulatory Approaches for Animal Biotechnology continues to provide status updates on animal biotech research and products in the pipeline with the recently concluded Session 5 featuring international panelists from government institutions, the academe, and the industry.

Entitled Developments in Animal Biotechnologies, Session 5 focused on the statuses of genome editing in animals, with a separate presentation about updates of different animals that included ruminants, poultry, swine, and aquaculture made by panelists from Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) of Brazil, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) of Australia, the University of Missouri, and Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh. Commercial considerations for gene-edited animals were also discussed by industry representatives from Genus, Kheiron, BenchMark Genetics, and Poultry Hub Australia.

Other topics that were also included in the session were the importance of genome editing and biotechnology for agriculture and food production, how biotechnology innovation can gain progress through government policies, and how the public can start to build trust in biotechnology and its products. Session 5 wrapped up with a panel discussion that entertained questions from the participants that the panelists answered by giving their expert opinions and insights on the concerns.

The international virtual workshop series is organized by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, and Virginia Tech. Sessions 6 and 7 are scheduled in the coming weeks of November 2020.

To know how to participate, contact mkarembu@isaaa.org.