The 5th International Workshop on Regulatory Approaches for Agricultural Applications of Animal Biotechnologies commenced on August 19 as a Zoom series. Running through to August 29, the workshop brings together the global regulatory community responsible for overseeing agricultural applications of animal biotechnology, alongside researchers and private sector stakeholders.

A series of six 3-hour plenary sessions were held at 1300-1600h UTC on August 19/20/21/22, and will resume on August 28 and 29, after three regional (Oceania/Asia, Africa/European/Middle East, Americas) breakout sessions scheduled on August 27, 2024.

Animal biotechnology is a rapidly growing field, and the development of genome editing offers new opportunities to produce food and improve animal health and well-being. First held in 2011, a series of previous international workshops have been held to discuss the latest developments in animal biotechnology and to share best practices for regulation and oversight. Proceedings of the previous workshops can be found at https://bit.ly/AnimalBiotechResources.

The 2024 workshop has been organized by a steering committee of academics, regulators, and developers working in animal biotechnology, and is intended to provide a broad overview of the status and future of animal biotechnology, the commercialization of the products of animal biotechnology, and the regulatory approaches being employed in different countries.

The plenary sessions of the first week have provided an overview of genome-edited animals in the pipeline for commercialization. The second week will be focused on regulatory approaches being taken in different regions, followed by a summary wrap-up of regional breakout sessions, and a look at future products that are emerging in this field.

Catch the Africa/European/Middle East regional breakout session to be hosted by ISAAA AfriCenter on August 27, 1100-1400h UTC by registring at https://na.eventscloud.com/799102.