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| For
further information contact:
Claudia Stella Zúñiga
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Last
update: 26 May 2009
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In
memory of Noemí Larrahondo, an innovative farmer
 CIAT
and its Agrobiodiversity and Biotechnology Project, together
with FIDAR, present their most heartfelt condolences to the
Larrahondo family for the death of Mrs. Noemí Larrahondo
last 26 September 2008.
'Doña'
Noemí, as affectionately called by neighbors, participated
actively as a member of the ASOPROSA farmer group in the Santa
Ana rural community of Santander of Quilichao, department
of Cauca.
The members of this farner group have worked closely with
CIAT in the development of a participatory methodology for
the low-cost in vitro propagation of cassava. Noemí
is the co-author of an article published in 2006 on this methodology,
in representation of the Santa Ana community and its farmer
group.
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III
National Course on Hybridization and Analysis of DNA Microarrays
 The
III National Course on Hybridization and Analysis of DNA Microarrays,
held from 7-9 May 2008 and offered by the CIAT Agrobiodiversity
and Biotechnology Project, culminated successfully and proved
to be an excellent opportunity to consider possible collaborative
projects between CIAT and other research centers in Colombia.
The 35 course participants came from different research centers
in Medellín, Cali, and Bogotá (Cenicafe,
Cenicaña,
CIB,
CIDEIM,
National
University, Los
Andes University, and CIAT) and included undergraduate,
master, and doctorate students and post-docs.
This free course included presentations about the principles
of gene expression analysis using cDNA microarrays as well
as wet work in the lab and informatics lab, where each participant
hybridized a microarray and analyzed typical expression data.
Agrobiodiversity and Biotechnology
Project participated actively in REDBIO 2007-Chile
 Researchers
of CIAT's Agrobiodiversity and Biotechnology Project participated
actively in the VI Latin American Meeting on Agricultural
Biotechnology "REDBIO
2007-Chile", held in Viña del Mar, from 22
to 26 October.
CIAT experts prepared posters and presentations and gave
magisterial conferences that addressed topics such as genomics;
molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding; tolerance
to abiotic and biotic stresses; exploration, characterization,
and sustainable use of biodiversity; bioinformatics, analysis
of public perception and regulatory frameworks, and education
in biotechnology, among others.
 The
International REDBIO Foundation gathers more than 2,300 researchers
from 32 countries, leads several activities related to research
and capacity building of human resources, and provides technical
assistance to governments in topics related to agricultural
biotechnology. The Foundation works in close collaboration
with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO). The
event aimed to:
- Promote the sharing of knowledge, technologies, and biological
materials among public and private institutions and organizations
of countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, especially
Chile.
- Promote the teaching, study, and conservation of the region's
biodiversity.
- Support the development of R&D projects in biotechnology
between national and regional institutes, laboratories,
and companies with their homologues worldwide.
- Sponsor the technical training and capacity building of
human resources at all levels in topics related to plant
and animal biotechnology.
- Advise governments and regional and international organizations
to consolidate development strategies in plant and animal
biotechnology.
- Promote national and regional biotechnology development
policies for the productive and agroindustrial sectors.
- Advance the safe use of applied biotechnology in national
production sectors.
Agenda
of REDBIO 2007-Chile.
List of posters presented by CIAT
researchers.
Seminars
to Support the Forthcoming MolConnect Workshop
 Researchers
of CIAT's Agrobiodiversity and Biotechnology Project offered
a series of seminars at the international workshop "Bridging
Genomics and Biodiversity", organized by the Universidad
Nacional de Colombia and Germany's University of Potsdam.
The workshop was held in Bogotá, Colombia, from 4
to 6 September and formed part of the activities of the MolConnect
Initiative, which seeks to establish a communication and information
platform at the interface between functional genomics research
and biodiversity and ecology research for the subsequent development
of joint projects.
The seminars offered by CIAT staff dealt with the understanding
of basic concepts and the case analysis of past or ongoing
research projects at the Center.
Contact: Gerardo
Gallego
Download the schedule of the seminars (in English)
(in Spanish)
For more information, visit the MolConnect
Web site |
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II National Course on Hybridization
and Analysis of DNA Mycroarrays
 The
II National Course on Hybridization and Analysis of DNA
Microarrays was successfully completed on December 5th-7th,
2005. The course was fully supported by the Agrobiodiversity
and Biotechnology Project at CIAT, which is under the leadership
of Dr. Joe Tohme. There were thirty assistants, between
undergraduate, master and doctorate students and post-docs,
who came from 12 different research centers (Cenicafé,
Cenicaña, EMBRAPA, National University and Los Andes
University among others) from Medellín, Cali, Bogotá,
Pereira, and Brazil. The course was free, and it included
presentations about the principles of gene expression analysis
using cDNA microarrays, we work at the lab and informatics
lab where each participant hybridized a microarray and analyzed
typical expression data.
The course was completed to the full satisfaction of both
assistant and speakers, and was also the adequate opportunity
to consider possible collaborative projects between CIAT
and the assistant's research Centers.
Contact: Diana
Bernal
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| Rice
Technical Working Group
The Rice Tecnical Working Group meets at least
biennially and provides the time and location for the continuous
exchange of information among rice scientists, extension personnel,
rice growers, representatives of the rice industry, and users
of rice products. Since 1960, research scientists and administrators
from the U.S. rice industry and representatives from each
the five major rice-growing states (Arkansas, California,
Louisiana, Mississipi, Texas), and from international agencies
and advanced labs, international centres and national rice
programs from around the work have participated in the biennial
meetings. This exchange of information and experiences has
been beneficial to all concerned. This meeting is organized
around thematic areas including breeding and genetics, economics
and marketing, plant protection, processing, storage and quality,
rice weed control and growth regulation. There are also plenary
and poster sessions.This year the 31st Rice Technical Working
Group Meeting was held in The Woodlands Waterway Marriott
Hotel, The Woodlans, Texas from February 26-March 1, 2006.
and was hosted by Texas A&M University.
See poster
(241 kb)
Contact:
César Martínez |
|
| Biotechnology
Workshop for High School Students
 During
31 March and 1 April of this year, a workshop on biotechnology
was held at CIAT. Unlike the usual biotechnology workshop,
this one was attended by more than 100 adolescents in their
last year of public secondary schooling in Cali. Moreover,
it was the first workshop of its kind to be held at the Center.
Dr. Willy Roca, now at CIP and who had established CIAT’s
biotechnology group, was very moved to see the students tour
the laboratories and discover their interest in many subjects.
“I know of the advances in biotechnology being made
in principal research centers and I can assure you that CIAT
is in the vanguard. For me, it is therefore very important
that school children come to this type of event”, Dr
Roca said. "Perhaps if this had been done 10 years ago,
then progress would have been much greater and we would have
had many more professionals in this area”, he added.
This meeting is part of the biotechnology dissemination project
among high school students, led by the Biotechnology Research
Unit and the Auxiliary Center for Teaching Services of Cali.
The project began last year with the launching of the CD entitled
Biotechnology in the Classroom.
See CIAT launches an
educational tool that brings science closer to the classroom
See the
Photo Gallery
Contact: Roosevelt
Escobar y/o Claudia
Stella Zúñiga
CIAT, Phone: +57 (2) 4450055 |
|
I Want a Little Ball Too!
 On
7 April at CIAT, for some employees, the work day was
a return to childhood, a time of many questions about
what things are for, what they are made of, and how they
work. Children from Class 3B of Colegio Bolívar,
Cali, spent part of their morning in the Biotechnology
Laboratory. They saw how lulo, Andean blackberry plant
and cassava are propagated in vitro, that means
in glass tubes, and, met the cacao tree from which the
raw material for making chocolate comes from. The children
also made synthetic cassava seeds—apparently a pleasant
experience as, at the end of the visit all the children
declared, …and “I want a little ball too!”
Download Photo Gallery
Contact: Roosevelt
Escobar y/o Claudia
Stella Zúñiga
CIAT, Phone: +57 (2) 4450055
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4-8 July 2005. International
Course "Molecular tools for Improving Crop Tolerance
to Abiotic Stress"
Location: Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones
Científicas (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela.
Deadline for applications: May 30th 2005.
 The
course will be focused on the physiological and molecular
basis of plant tolerance to abiotic stress, and the potential
use of molecular tools for the improvement of stress tolerance
in crop species. Special emphasis will be given to drought
tolerance. Lectures will be supported by practical sessions
consisting in data analyses and application of bioinformatics
tools.
For more information check: www.ivic.ve/eventos/ivicmol
Or contact: tghneim@ivic.ve
or ivicmol@ivic.ve
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HarvestPlus
and IAEA Announce Call-for-Proposal for a Research Coordination
Project
 HarvestPlus
(one of the
CGIAR’s Challenge Programs) and the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
announce the release of a call-for-proposals for a Research
Coordination Project on the following three themes:
-
Effect of cooking methods on the bioefficacy
of ß-CAROTENE-RICH SWEET POTATO
Download
(170 KB)
-
Zinc bioavailability in HIGH-ZINC WHEAT
Download
(141 KB)
-
Measuring PLANT FERRITIN levels
Download
(140 KB)
For more information, visit the Harvest
Plus Web site |
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| Congress
on Biotechnology held in Bogotá
1-2 September 2004
The II Colombian Congress on Biotechnology was held in The
Camara de Comercio and Universidad Nacional, Bogotá,
from 1 to 3 September 2004. CIAT's Agrobiodiversity and Biotechnology
Project participated in the agricultural session of the Congress,
giving 4 oral presentations and presenting 14 posters. CIAT
also participated in the Pre-Congress event, giving 13 lectures
on issues related to genomics and transgenic organisms. The
Pre-Congress was open to the general public and more than
500 people attended. CIAT received the following distinctions:
- Outstanding Presentation in the agricultural session,
awarded to Mauricio Soto, Camilo López, Silvia Restrepo,
Benoit Piegu, Richard Cooke, Michel Delseny, Joe Tohme,
Valerie Verdier; for their presentation on "Microarray
analysis of global gene expression during the interaction
cassava—Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis"
- First Award for best poster, awarded to Rosa González-Torres,
Eliana Gaitán, Myriam Cristina Duque, Orlando Toro,
Joe Tohme, Daniel Debouck; for the poster "Analyzing
gene flow in common bean using molecular markers".
- Second Award for best poster, awarded to Eliana González,
Luisa Fory, Rosana Pineda, Juan José Vásquez,
Edgar Corredor, Myriam Cristina Duque, James Silva, Zaida
Lentini; for the poster " Caracterización de
la Diversidad Genética, Morfológica y Fenológica
de Cuatro Poblaciones de Arroz Maleza Colectadas en las
Regiones de Huila y Tolima".
See the list of
abstracts |
|
| Reference
Book on Biotechnology Now On-line
 The
book Cultivo de Tejidos en la Agricultura: Fundamentos
y Aplicaciones, is now on line. The book, available only
in Spanish, is considered one of the most complete and advanced
works on biotechnology published in Spanish in Latin America
(40 chapters, glossary, and several appendixes).
Since 1985, technical editors William M. Roca and Luis A.
Mrogisnski have been compiling the contributions of almost
50 specialists from three continents.
The first 10 chapters describe the principal elements of
a plant tissue culture program, covering the establishment
of the laboratory and the selection of the culture media through
the refined techniques of cell suspension, protoplast culture
and hybridization, identification of hybrids using isoenzymes,
and biochemical and molecular markers.
The 30 remaining chapters describe the application of tissue
culture techniques in numerous agriculturally important species.
The book was designed as avant-garde text and reference tool.
The 1993 edition is sold out.
Download the book |
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| Cassava
Biotechnology Workshop
The
Sixth International Scientific Meeting of the Cassava Biotechnology
Network (CBN) was held on 8-14
March 2004 at CIAT headquarters in Cali. Participants examined
ways in which biotechnology can add value to cassava, for
example, by aiding production of disease-free planting material
of improved varieties.
Among the topics covered were the role of cassava farmers,
processors, and consumers in research planning; cassava and
human nutrition; genetic transformation and other options
for cassava improvement; and biosafety. Grown mainly by small
farmers, cassava is vital to the food security and livelihoods
of some 500 million people across the tropics.
Download the abstracts (1000 kb)
For more information, visit the event's
Web site. |
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