Our graduation marks the end of a six-week intensive training of 11 scientists in gene editing technology using CRISPR through the Africa Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course Class.
The training aims to build the capacity of African scientists and provide them with modern biotechnology tools in gene editing including the use of CRISPR for genetic improvement of crops towards food and nutritional security. This is the second cohort of African molecular scientists trained through this program and we will be joining 10 molecular scientists trained in Cohort One.
The trainees from cohort II were drawn from eight different African countries: Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Ghana, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Mozambique.
The African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course is one of the professional development programs offered by the Africa Plant Breeding Academy (AfPBA), an initiative of the African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC).
It aims to impart the how-to of gene editing to molecular biologists. It is a highly interactive classroom instruction and practical hands-on laboratory training delivered by world-class experts in various subject areas.
As we graduate, we are privileged to take with us skills and knowledge and a rich background in the appropriation of modern biotechnology and gene editing as a tool to enhance agriculture and move sustainably towards food and nutritional security in Africa.
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Dr Emily Gichuhi is a Research Scientist at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and a graduate of AfPBA CRISPR Class II.