Virtual Seminar on Novel
Technologies and Techniques in Plant Breeding held online on 17-18 November
2020 in collaboration with TAGEM and the United States Department of
Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Services (FAS).
During the event,
researchers from 26 different research institutes affiliated to TAGEM and 8
affiliated labs of the General Directorate of Food and Control along with
several faculty members from universities and experts from both TÜBİTAK and
Directorate General for European Union and Foreign Relations participated at
the event. The virtual seminar has reached a total of 86 participants on both
days.
On the first day of the seminar, US
Agricultural Attaché Christine Mumma and TAGEM Deputy Director General Assoc.
Prof. İlhan Aydın made their opening remarks. Following the remarks of İlhan
Aydın; the first panelist of the event Dr. Matthew R. Willmann, Director of
Plant Transformation Facility for Cornell University made his presentation on
CRISPR/Cas9.
David M. Satterfield
United States Ambassador to Turkey, inaugurated the event on the second day
along with Director General Dr. Nevzat Birişik and Agricultural Counselor
Michael Conlon.
Within the scope of the
second day of the virtual seminar, Dr. Martin Lema, Adjunct Prof. from Quilmes
National University presented on the subject of Genome Editing regulations in
Argentina.
The last panelist of the
seminar, Dr. Alexandre Nepomuceno Director of EMBRAPA Soybean covered the
subject on Biosafety of Genetically Engineered Products and CRISPR in Brazil
during his presentation.
Information on genetic
scissors tool which was awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020, was also shared
with the participants at the event and attracted great attention during Q&A
sessions of the seminar.