ISAAA Publications

Filipino Faces of Biotechnology: 2016-2022 Awardees features a pictographic account of the awardees' lives, accomplishments, and contributions to biotechnology in the Philippines and abroad. Through their expertise and passion, they have pioneered groundbreaking discoveries and served as powerful symbols of the positive impact that biotechnology has brought to the Philippines.

Myths and Facts about Agricultural Biotechnology answers 10 myths on agricultural biotech, providing facts and data relevant to each topic.

Beyond Promises: Facts about Biotech/GM Crops in 2018 is a visual presentation of the 10 important highlights about biotech crops from 1996 to 2018, taken from ISAAA Brief 54: Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2018.

Annual Report

The report features the major activities, projects, and accomplishments of ISAAA aimed to advance the society towards agricultural sustainability and development.

Year: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 (SEAsiaCenter, Philippines), 2016, 2015, 2014

Biotech sQuizBox: All About Gene Editing

ISAAA releases another edition of its popular publication, Biotech sQuizBox. This addition to the series of accordion-type booklet focuses on gene editing and contains answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) on gene editing, including the following:

• What is gene editing?
  
• How does gene editing work?
  
• What is the difference between genetic enginering and gene editing?
  
• Is gene editing safe?
  
• What are the gene-edited products in the market?

Biotech sQuizBox (Not Just for Kids)

ISAAA releases the new version of Biotech sQuizBox (Not Just for Kids), an activity booklet on biotechnology. The publication is designed to inform the public on biotech through trivia and puzzles in cartoons. It also provides URLs and QR codes directing to more biotech information online.

Translations: Filipino, Korean

Biotech sQuizBox

Biotech sQuizBox is an accordion-type cartoon publication that aims to inform secondary school students about crop biotechnology. One side of the booklet contains snippets of basic information about the history, development, and benefits of biotech crops. The other side of the booklet challenges the readers to answer exciting quizzes to further understand the subject matter. The activities include DNA extraction exercise, scientist appreciation activity, puzzles, and word problem, which can be done individually or as a group in science classes.

Translations: Urdu

Biotech Communication Series

Points to Ponder on Gene Editing: Can We Edit the Future of Food?

Gene editing is a powerful new technology that has the potential to revolutionize the way we produce food. By making precise changes to the DNA of plants and animals, gene editing can help to increase yields, improve resistance to pests and diseases, and even create new varieties of crops that are better suited to our changing climate.

Science and She: Empowering Women in Science

Building a culture that empowers women motivates them to do great things in science that will benefit their personal lives and the society. Their knowledge and experiences will lead the public to appreciate science and make informed decisions about technology applications such as biotechnology.

Inside the Biotech Lab: How to Genetically Engineer a Plant?

Inside the Biotech Lab: How to Genetically Engineer a Plant? is a visual documentation of how scientists conduct genetic transformation in the laboratory.

From Fear to Facts: 17 Years of Agri-biotech Reporting in the Philippines (2000-2016)

The publication is based on a study conducted by ISAAA and SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center published in the April 2017 issue of Philippine Journal of Crop Science.

Quotable Quotes: Why Biotech?

The quotes are taken from ISAAA Brief 50 Voices and Views: Why Biotech? which highlight the perspectives of various key stakeholders from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America who have followed the advancement of biotechnology and are convinced that the technology is vital in improving the quality of life.

Straight from the Scientists: Biotech Experts' Perspectives and Experiences in Informing the Public

In the eyes of the public, academics and scientists are at the topmost level of the credibility ladder, being the most relable and trusted sources of information on biotechnology. To know how academics and scientists play their role in biotech communication, a study was conducted by ISAAA. The results of the study are published in the August issue of Philippine Journal of Crop Scienc. The highlights of study is packaged in this monograph.

Farmers First: Feedback from the Farm

A collection of farmers' testimonies from China, India, and the Philippines, about how they started adopting biotech crops, how they benefited from the technology, and why they continue planting biotech crops.

Science and Popular Media: How Cartoonists Visualize Crop Biotechnology

This monograph highlights the research findings of a study to determine how cartoonists in Philippine national newspapers "define" biotechnology. In addition, it discusses Biotechtoons, a contest for cartoonists on biotechnology, and initiatives by other countries to help popularize technology concepts and issues.

Media, Messages & Metaphors

The study underscores the relationship between science and media and the process of negotiating public or popular images of science. It analyzed media coverage, sources of articles, tone, media frames, use of metaphors, and article titles.

MyBio Carnival: Where Passion Meets Fashion

ISAAA and the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC) releases this brochure that shows the activities of a week-long activity to introduce the wonders of science in a playful, relaxing, and participative mode.

Voices of Change

This brochure is a synthesis of Brief 40 on Communicating Crop Biotechnology: Stories from Stakeholders. It highlights how different audiences respond to science communication efforts, thus building a collective voice on crop biotechnology.

Policy Briefs

ISAAA Inc., in partnership with the Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research, launches these policy brief:

1. Risk Assessment for Gene Drive Organisms - The brief recommends that risk assessments must be consistent with the principle of case-by-case assessment since there are various types of gene drive constructs developed for different applications and contexts.
2. Environmental, Socio-economic, and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) for Gene Drive Organisms - According to the policy brief, ESHIA is helpful because it offers an analysis that helps assess the advantages and disadvantages of action and inaction, which is important to inform decisions. ESHIA and ERA complement each other, and their findings should be considered in decision-making.
3. Field Evaluations of Gene Drive Organisms - According to the policy brief, field evaluations are needed to understand the performance, spread, and persistence of a gene drive organism in a given environment. Several field evaluations of different designs and sizes might be needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of a proposed application. Field evaluations for proposed gene drive applications are part of a multi-phase research process and will inform several important considerations that researchers must address to prepare for an experimental release, including safety and impacts, acceptability for affected stakeholders, and the logistics of its implementation.

ISAAA Inc., in partnership with the Philippine Agriculture and Fisheries Biotechnology Program (DA Biotech), publish the 2022 Policy Brief series:

1. Beyond the Label: Unpacking the Lessons of GM Food Labeling Policies - Dr. Nina Gloriani, Consultant, Clinical Microbiology, St. Luke's Medical Center and Dr. Rhodora Aldemita, Executive Director, ISAAA Inc.

ISAAA, in partnership with the Philippine Agriculture and Fisheries Biotechnology Program and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research and Agriculture (SEARCA), publish the 2022 Policy Brief series:

1. Accelerating Impact Through a Responsive Regulatory Framework: the DOST-DA-DENR-DOH-DILG Joint Department Circular No. 1, Series of 2021 - Ms. Ma. Lorelie U. Agbagala, Assistant Scientist at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Head Secretariat of the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines
2. To Regulate, or Not to Regulate, the Answer to the Question: The NCBP Policy on Plant Breeding Innovations or New Breeding Techniques - Ms. Ma. Lorelie U. Agbagala, Assistant Scientist at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Head Secretariat of the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines
3. Modern Animal Biotechnology: Benefits, Future Directions, and Policy Recommendations - Ernelea P. Cao, PhD, Professor, Institute of Biology, College of Science, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

The 2018 Policy Brief series is produced in partnership with the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines (CAMP), Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Program Office (DA-BPO), Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS), and DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR).

1. The Costs of Regulatory Delays for Genetically Modified Crops - Jose Benjamin Falck Zepeda and Carlo G. Custodio, Jr.
2. Strengthening Support for Biotechnology in the Philippines - Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines (CAMP)
3. Broad Scientific Consensus on Safety of GMO Technology - Emil Q. Javier
4. New Plant Breeding Techniques: CRISPR/Cas9 System - Emil Q. Javier
5. Personal Constructs and Social Discourses on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) - Maria Monina Cecilia Q. Arcelo-Villena
   

Reports

African Stakeholders Study Tour: The Present & Future of Cotton Farming in India

The report captures the experiences and lessons learned from a week-long seeing-is-believing study tour by a delegation of six East and Southern African cotton growing countries to Bt cotton hybrid fields in India from September 27- October 2, 2015

International Workshop for Islamic Scholars on Agribiotechnology: Shariah Compliance

Proceedings of the workshop held at Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia on 1-2 December 2010

Research Briefs

Adoption and Uptake Pathways of Biotech Crops in the Philippines

Peer and kinship systems facilitate the adoption and uptake pathways of biotech corn in some provinces of the Philippines, that is according to the researchers at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. They conducted a survey in 2011 to analyze how biotech corn farmers started to adopt the technology and to understand the role of communication in the farmers' decision to adopt and share information about the crop.

Communicating Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa: What Role for Radio?

The brief captures findings of a research project conducted by Africenter and partners from 2008 to 2011 on Radio use in communicating agricultural biotechnology in Africa using Burkina Faso and Kenya as case studies. The two countries have recorded increased activity and growth in research, development and policy formulation in agricultural biotechnology over the last 5 years.