Bangladesh Ag Minister Calls for Gene Revolution After Green Revolution

Bangladesh Minister of Agriculture CS Karim urged scientists and other stakeholders of biotechnology to work on various aspects of this new science to achieve food security in a country facing increasing population. He explained that the Green Revolution has ended and "we need to find more powerful gene revolution tools for food, feed, medicine, renewable energy and other human needs."  During the inauguration of the three-day long “International Symposium on Regulatory and Safety Issues on Biotech Research in Developing Countries” in Dhaka, he also lauded the role of scientists and policy makers in working towards regulatory mechanisms and the on-going trial of three GM crops in Bangladesh at various levels by both public and private sectors.

Dr. MHA Hassan, TWAS Executive Director, President Shamsher Ali of the Academy of Sciences, Vice Chancellor Jamilur Reza Choudhury of the BRAC University, and Minister (in charge) Manik Lal Samaddar of the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology also spoke on the development of regulatory and safety capacity for biotechnological applications in Bangladesh. The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and BRAC University in addition to other sponsors organized the symposium which was attended by around 50 foreign and 500 local participants. 

Additional information about the workshop can be obtained by emailing Dr. Khondoker Nasiruddin of the Bangladesh Biotechnology Information Center at nasir@yahoo.com.