Project Scientists attend multi-week training in Nairobi
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EmailProject Scientists attend multi-week training in Nairobi.
Feed the Future Global Biotech Potato Partnership scientists from Indonesia and Bangladesh recently completed a one-month training in the laboratories at the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) - International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Hub in Nairobi, Kenya.
Edy Listanto from the Research Center for Genetic Engineering of the Research Organization for Life Sciences and Environment (RCGE-ROLSE) in Indonesia and Sabina Yesmin from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) were selected to represent project focus countries and gain valuable training for work on the Global Biotech Potato Partnership project.
Critical techniques to produce biotech potatoes were the focus of the training including tissue culture, agrobacterium strain characterization, agrobacterium-mediated transformation, and management of genetic stocks using the barcode system. A one-week course on gene construct and potato transformation was also conducted.
The scientists will use these new skills in the transformation work on the second-generation of disease resistant potato in their home country research labs and transfer knowledge to other peer scientists.
The training is a part of the Global Biotech Potato Partnership's workstream four objective to strengthen the capacity of local scientists for the early development of disease resistant (DR) biotech potatoes and contribute to the product pipeline that will result in a second-generation DR biotech potato.
In addition, scientists Evans Mwasame from the Kenyan Agricultural and Livestock Organization (KALRO) and Kahya Shuaibu from the Nigerian National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) participated in the same training earlier in the project.
The four scientists are scheduled to return to the laboratories at BecA-ILRI Hub in Nairobi for continued training throughout the project period.
