Roundtable on 'Biotech Communication
Staff Correspondent
Participants at a roundtable discussion on 'Biotech Communication: Potential Role of Journalists' underscored the need for better understanding of the frontier science by the media people for proper dissemination of the biotechnological developments to the readers and viewers. International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and Bangladesh Biotechnology Information Centre (BdBIC) organised the discussion at a city hotel yesterday. ISAAA National Coordinator Prof DR KM Nasiruddin, Country Coordinator of South Asia Biosafety Programme Prof Dr M Imdadul Hoque, Executive Vice-President of Canada-based biotech organisation Agbios Donald J MacKenzie, The New Nation editor Mostafa Kamal Majumder and a Pakistani journalist specialising in agricultural biotechnology Ijaz Ahmed Rao made presentations at the discussion. Though Bangladesh has long been lagging behind in pursuing the research and development works in crop biotechnology, the experts said priorities have been attached to research on gene technology applications recently in rice, brinjal, potato and papaya to gain extra nutrition value and fight pests and diseases. Dispelling misconceptions on genetic engineering, the participants said there were risk factors associated with all technologies but those could be taken care of if proper regulatory measures are kept in place.
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