Iranian Scientist Shares Lessons; Holds Seminar At DOST-PCAARRD

About 100 participants from different organizations benefited from a seminar recently conducted by an Iranian scientist at the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) in Los Banos, Laguna.

Behzad Ghareyazi, currently affiliated with the Ministry of Jihad, Islamic Republic of Iran, conducted the seminar entiled, “Biotechnology and Nanotechnology in Iran: Review of Few Achievements”.

He shared a brief background and history of Islamic Science Revolution, as well as the country’s performance in terms of scientific outputs and publications.

Ghareyazi, who was a former director general of the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran, also talked about the recent achievemnets in animal cloning, production of transgenic crop plants, production of genetically-modified crops, and commercialization of Bacillus thuringensis (Bt) rice.

Participants from PCAARD, Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD), 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 International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) also learned about Iran’s experience in commercialized micropropagation production protocols.

Iran’s strategy for partnerships with the private sector, and other technologies related to agricultural biotechnology, the recent advances in health biotechnology and nanotechnology were also discussed.

PCAARRD said the seminar was part of Ghareyazi’s visit in agencies and institutions in Los Baños, Laguna this month. (PNA) LAM/MCCA