Behzad Ghareyazi, former Director General of the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII) and currently affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, Islamic Republic of Iran, held a seminar titled Biotechnology and Nanotechnology in Iran: Review of a Few Achievements.
Held on January 13, 2016 at the Elvira O. Tan Hall of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD), the event was attended by about one hundred participants.
The participants represented various organizations such as DOST-PCAARRD, Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) of DOST, Department of Agriculture (DA)-Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), DA-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), DA-Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO)-Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Ghareyazi presented the brief background and history of the Islamic Science Revolution, Iran’s performance in terms of scientific outputs and publications, recent achievements in animal cloning, production of transgenic crop plants, production of genetically-modified crop plants, and the commercialization of Bacillus thuringensis (Bt) rice.
Ghareyazi also shared Iran’s experience in commercialized micropropagation production protocols; Iran’s strategy for partnerships with the private sector; other technologies related to agricultural biotechnology; and recent advances in health biotechnology and nanotechnology.
The seminar is part of Ghareyazi’s visit in agencies and institutions in Los Baños, Laguna from January 11-14, 2016.