For the second time, the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) hosted the launch of the "Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2008". MARDI is one of the beneficiaries of the technology transfer facilitated by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) through the papaya network where vectors and constructs were provided for the development of papaya resistant to ringspot virus and delayed ripening trait.

The launch this year was officiated by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Dato' Mohd Mokhtar Ismail in the presence of the Director General of MARDI, Datuk Dr. Abd. Shukor Abd. Rahman. Both the Secretary General and the DG were confident that GM crops are the way to go to increase food production and reduce negative environmental affects. They also hoped that Malaysia would not be left behind in this technology.

Dr. Randy Hautea, ISAAA Global Coordinator, presented the highlights of the ISAAA Brief to an audience comprising policy makers, scientists, academia, industry, students, regulators, and the media.

Dato' Mohd Mokhtar Ismail, Secretary General of Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, (center) looks at the ISAAA Brief after launching it in MARDI in the company of Datuk Dr. Abd. Shukor Abd. Rahman, Director General of MARDI  (right) and Dr. Randy Hautea, ISAAA Global Coordinator

Contact Mahaletchumy Arujanan of the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Center at maha@bic.org.my for additional information.