A CONFERENCE on gene editing was conducted to provide the scientific community a venue to discuss the latest international updates on the technology, challenges on implementation and regulation, and trends on communication and public perception.
The forum was hosted by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD), in partnership with the Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS), International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), and the Department of Agriculture-Biotech Program Office (DA-BPO).
The activity, which was held recently in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, was attended by researchers coming from various state colleges and universities (SUCs), reviewers and regulators from the Department of Agriculture, and guests coming from the private sector.
According to DOST-PCAARRD Executive Director Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora, the event was a very timely occasion for the stakeholders to discuss the different advances in gene editing and the corresponding regulation.
“The progress in gene editing has been quite dramatic. Maybe what we know two years ago will be quite different from what we know now in terms of the technology and its implications to regulation,” Ebora said.
Dr. Rashmi Nair, a technical adviser of PBS and adjunct professor from Michigan State University, discussed the regulatory options on gene edited crops and products.
Nair introduced several gene editing techniques and presented the current status of regulation on gene editing in some countries.
While the second topic focused on the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) (CRISPR)/Cas 9 genome editing initiatives in the Philippines.
PCAARRD says CRISPR/Cas 9 is the most widely used method in genome editing or targeted mutagenesis.
It was learned that gene editing is the ability to make highly specific changes in the DNA sequence of a living organism, essentially customizing its genetic makeup.
Key among gene-editing technologies is a molecular tool known as CRISPR-Cas9, a powerful technology discovered in 2012.
Likewise, Dr. Hayde F. Galvez of the Institute of Plant Breeding-University of the Philippines Los Baños (IPB-UPLB) updated the participants on her team’s on-going project on capability building for CRISPR/Cas 9.
It was learned from Galvez that the project conducts seminars, trainings, and workshops on CRISPR/Cas9 for capacity building of faculty, staff, and students of the UPLB as well as those of other SUCs.
She also briefly discussed the challenges and opportunities towards mutation plant breeding using CRISPR/Cas 9.
The “Communicating the Science of Gene Editing” was discussed by Cornell Alliance for Science fellow Aileen A. Garcia, where she talked about the overview of and trends in agribiotechnology conversations for the past two years.
“Gene editing is a ‘hopeful’ area for conversation because of more and steady pro or positive stories published over time,” she shared.
Garcia also discussed the new opportunities for communication in three key areas: climate smart crops; social justice; and reducing agriculture’s climate impact.
In order to encourage public discussions and engagements on gene editing, the DOST-PCAARRD is open for more collaboration on conducting fora and other related activities. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
