ISAAA Short Course Highlights Relevance of Integrating Research, Science-based Regulation, and SciCom in Sustainable Agri Dev't

Recognizing the importance of integrating research, effective communication, and science-based regulatory frameworks in harnessing the full potential of agribiotechnology to fuel sustainable agricultural development, ISAAA and its partners organized the 3rd Asian Short Course on Agribiotechnology, Biosafety Regulation, and Communication (ASCA2020). The four-day course was conducted via Zoom with the aim of equipping key stakeholders with knowledge on the entire value chain related to research, development, commercialization, and trade of living modified organisms (LMOs).

A total of 43 participants from Australia, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Mexico, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, and Myanmar were able to attend. Nineteen experts shared their knowledge and experiences about the following topics:

• modern biotechnology methods of genetic engineering and genome editing for both plants and animals;
• country reports about biotechnology status for research, development, and commercialization and their national biotechnology frameworks, the environmental, and food, and feed safety assessments and regulations related to both assessments;
• discussions about international regulatory standards such as the OECD guidelines, CODEX Alimentarius, IPPC, and the OIE;
• academe-industry-government partnership in agricultural biotechnology to achieve food security goals;
• science and potentials of new breeding technologies; and
• science communication.

At the end of the short course, the participants expressed their appreciation of the learnings they gained. ISAAA will continue its advocacy to promote agricultural biotechnology as the initiative comes from having to keep up with the fast-changing advances in agricultural biotechnology.

Visit ISAAA's Science Speaks Blog to learn more about the details of the 3rd ASCA.