Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agriculture

IICA and Bioversity-CIAT Alliance further training in precision biotechnology

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

Geared towards teachers, the course focused on sharing knowledge on and providing training in CRISPR-Cas gene editing techniques. This will allow for expanding the number of institutions that could eventually contribute biotechnology solutions to address various agricultural issues.

 

Principal

Palmira, Colombia, 3 August 2023 (IICA) – As part of its technical activities in the field of biotechnology, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) delivered, together with the Bioversity-CIAT Alliance, the Fifth Training Course on Gene Editing for Teachers in Palmira, Colombia, in July.

Joe Tohme, Acting Director General of CIAT; specialist Benjamin Rietmann of USDA-FAS; and Pedro Rocha, IICA International Specialist in Biotechnology and Biosafety, opened the course.

Geared towards teachers, the course focused on sharing knowledge on and providing training in CRISPR-Cas gene editing techniques. This, in turn, will allow for expanding the number of institutions that could eventually contribute biotechnology solutions to address various agricultural issues.

 Participating in the course were 22 professors and researchers from Chile (INIA), Costa Rica (Universidad Nacional), Ecuador (ESPOL), Guyana (NAREI), Peru (La Molina), the Dominican Republic (IDIAF), Uruguay (Universidad de la República) and Colombia (Universidad Nacional in Bogotá and Palmira, Universidad de Antioquia, Universidad de Caldas, Universidad del Valle, Universidad de los Andes,

Universidad Antonio Nariño, Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de los Llanos, EAFIT, CES and SENA). Technical observers from USDA-FAS and the United States Embassy in Colombia also participated.

Previous versions of the course have given greater international relevance to precision biotechnology and generated a direct positive impact on countries’ national regulations on this topic. This demonstrates the interest and priority given by IICA, together with strategic research partners such as the Bioversity-CIAT Alliance, to furthering training in the latest biotechnology issues.

Segunda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More information:

comunicacion.institucional@iica.int

Pedro.Rocha@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

Santa Fé, Darién, Panamá

September 4, 2025

Coordination between IICA and Panamanian and U.S. government authorities bolsters the fight against New World screwworm in Central America and Mexico

As part of the efforts to curb the spread of the New World screwworm (NWS), a current health threat in Central America and Mexico, the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) of Panama, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm (COPEG) organized a meeting with livestock farmers in the city of Santa Fé de Darién to strengthen health surveillance and better protect local livestock production.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

El Director General del IICA, Manuel Otero, reafirmó en la inauguración de Biohélice 2025 el compromiso del Instituto con la bioeconomía como eje estratégico para transformar el agro y revitalizar los territorios rurales. En el acto lo acompañaron la Directora General de CINDE, Marianela Urgellés; el Rector de la UNA, Jorge Herrera; y el presidente de CRBiomed, Álvaro Peralta.

San Jose, Costa Rica

September 3, 2025

Specialists and partners at a meeting spearheaded by IICA view the bioeconomy as essential in positioning Costa Rica and the Americas as leaders in sustainability and production transformation

The bioeconomy specialists were participating in Biohélice 2025, an event organized by Costa Rica’s Universidad Nacional, the CRBiomed association and IICA, which brought together more than 130 participants with an interest in innovation and bioeconomy.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Alagoas, Brasil

September 1, 2025

Eliane Faria de Souza, a fisherwoman from Northeastern Brazil combining old traditions with innovative ideas to protect the environment, is named an IICA Leader of Rurality of the Americas

Eliane works with other women in the region to transform polluting waste substances into organic fertilizer.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins