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AFSI Newsletter - April 2022
Additional E-Learning Courses on Biotechnology and Biosafety Available in Spanish
AFSI and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) have a technical cooperation agreement recognizing their shared commitment to improving understanding of agricultural technologies, responsible use, and capacity building, in order to promote sustainable development and enhance the well-being of rural populations in the Americas. Under this framework, the two organizations have committed to work on a joint virtual course to provide training to support the preparation for new regulators in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Part of this program includes making additional courses on AFSI's e-learning platform more accessible to Spanish-speaking audiences, which has led to the translation of two additional courses to Spanish: (1) Genetic Variability in Crops and (2) Environmental Risk Assessment of Non-Target Organisms for GE Crops. As with all our online resources, these courses are made available to regulatory agencies, academics, the private sector, and other interested stakeholders upon request, free of charge. Those who already have access to our e-learning portal can take the Spanish versions of these courses starting today.
Genetic Variability in Crops
What is genetic variability and how do plant breeders harness genetic variability to improve crops? This course provides a basic review of genetics and plant breeding, an overview of modern breeding technologies, and discusses how new plant cultivars are released. Upon completing this course, students should have a better understanding of the techniques used to generate improved crop cultivars, the science behind plant breeding, and the context for pre-market risk assessments associated with GE crops.
Environmental Risk Assessment of Non-Target Organisms for GE Crops
What are non-target organisms (NTOs) and when is NTO testing informative? This online course presents when, why, and how environmental risk assessments (ERAs) for GE crops are informed by assessments and testing of NTOs. It also includes a review of problem formulation, the development of testable risk hypotheses, and the selection of NTOs and surrogate species for testing.
Other AFSI Courses Available in Spanish
Prior to the recent additions detailed above, AFSI already offered three of its courses in Spanish: (1) Understanding Low Level Presence in Agricultural Biotechnology, (2) Application of Problem Formulation to the Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Crops, and (3) Confined Field Trials of Genetically Engineered Plants. All five courses mentioned in this newsletter are listed under the Biosafety and Biotechnology Courses category, and Spanish versions may be accessed by clicking the “Spanish” button.
Spanish versions of AFSI's e-learning courses are being used in the Virtual Training Course in Risk Assessment for Biosafety Authorities from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, a program jointly hosted by AFSI and IICA, which aims to strengthen the relationship between the members of national technical committees on biosafety from the three countries, as well as foster the importance of simplified and science-based procedures in the framework of the Trilateral Customs Agreement. The introductory session for the training course took place on February 23, 2022, and the second session was held on April 6, 2022. Additional joint capacity building activities are planned for later this year.