NUBiP teacher Svitlana Bilous participated in the main international scientific biotechnology event for foresters from all over the world

    The population of the planet is increasing, people are using more and more timber products and a large number of other ecosystem services. Natural forests conservation is crucial for the biosphere balance. Under such circumstances, forestry has to be high-tech and use biotechnology as its main scientific tool. Therefore, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) biannually holds the Tree Biotechnology Meeting.

   This important international scientific biotechnology event for foresters from all over the world was held at the North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC, USA). The main topic of this meeting was Forests, Technologies and Society. It should be noted that the venue for the US scientific meeting was chosen not by chance, since the level of scientific development and application of biotechnology, in particular in agriculture and forestry, is one of the highest in the world.

    More than 200 scientists from all over the world participated in the meeting of biotechnologists. The largest delegations represented the USA, China, Sweden, Portugal and Germany. Our colleague, Associate Professor Svitlana Bilous had the possibility to participate in the meeting due to the grant from the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (BioUkraine.org). She presented scientific developments of the Department of Botany, Dendrology and Forest Breeding on biotechnology of tree plant breeding, including century-old trees. The results of the research and possible areas of scientific cooperation were discussed in detail during the poster session.

     This year's meeting of forest biotechnologists was devoted to the problems of studying the structure, functions and evolution of the genome, analysis of large data sets in tree genomics, development of transgenic technologies, genome editing and technologies for the in vitro culture, adaptation of woody plants to climate change, development of biotechnologies for biomaterial creation and their value for the bioeconomy. Particular attention was paid to the society’s perception of biotechnology in forestry, as transgenic technologies cause a resonant response and need to be clarified by scientists.

    The challenges that forestry and landscape-park management are facing in the 21st century are caused by a rapid climate change and increasing frequency of forest ecosystems disruption and, therefore, cannot be addressed without development and implementation of modern biotechnologies, aimed at the creation of sustainable plantations, as well as preservation of unique natural features.

Oleksandra Leshchenko,
Head of the International Programs of the ERI of
Forestry and Landscape-Park Management