AFSI Newsletter - December 2021
New E-Learning Courses on Animal Biotechnology
The Agriculture & Food Systems Institute is pleased to announce the launch of two new online courses. Genetic Engineering in Livestock Production covers advancements in genetic engineering in animals that have been demonstrated in laboratory settings and their application in livestock production, while Food Safety of Genetically Engineered Animal Products explains how genetically engineered (GE) animal products are evaluated against their non-genetically modified counterparts. 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 courses starting today.
Genetic Engineering in Livestock Production
How could genetic engineering be used to supplement the genetic variation in animals that is essential for production improvements through selection? In this course, students will learn about the techniques used to delete or alter existing genes or introduce new genetic sequences into livestock, obstacles to genetic improvement in animals, and opportunities for improving production and lowering environmental impacts through biotechnology.
Food Safety of Genetically Engineered Animal Products
How are GE animal products evaluated to ensure they pose no greater risk to the food supply than products from their non-GE counterparts? This course covers risk assessment in the context of GE animal products, including methods and techniques used to ensure these products are safe for human consumption and how possible detrimental outcomes of genetic modification are evaluated to assess the risk to their human consumption.
Other Online Courses on Food Safety
AFSI offers two additional online courses under the food safety category. Concepts in the Safety Assessment of Novel Food and Feed discusses how people use information about foods to make basic decisions regarding food safety and how government regulators use similar information to address the safety of novel foods that may be introduced into their country’s food supply. This course should be taken prior to starting Application of Problem Formulation to Food and Feed Safety Assessments, which is designed to help risk assessors and risk managers understand what problem formulation (PF) is and how it can be applied to food and feed safety assessments for GE crops.