The Director-General of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha has said that genome technology editing can transform development in Nigeria and across the African continent, if properly harnessed.
Mustapha, who spoke in Abuja on Wednesday stated that such development would be in terms of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
NABDA, in collaboration with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD CoE-STI), recently concluded a four-day national genome editing communication, advocacy strategy and action plan stakeholder validation workshop.
The director-general said the workshop brought all the stakeholders in Nigeria together to validate the work that was previously done in the country on genome editing.
He said Nigeria would soon deploy genome editing technology in agriculture in order to help boost productivity and ensure food security.
Mustapha added that the technology was a scientific innovation that helped in precision agriculture, where genetic impairment of a crop was targeted and fixed, enabling the crop to actualise its optimal yield.
“The technology comes with numerous benefits including reduction in time frame between planting and harvesting, mitigating climate change and less application of pesticides among others,” Mustapha said.
He reiterated that the technology was an initiative of the AUDA-NEPAD new partnership for Africa’s development.
Dr. Shakirat Solebo, acting Director of Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics Department of the agency corroborated that genome editing technology was beneficial to Nigeria.
Solebo, who is also the Facilitator of the AUDA-NEPAD/NABDA initiative said that the technology would have a positive impact on the overall development in Nigeria, especially relating to food security.
She added that genome editing was also targeted at improving the way and method things are done.
Solebo recalled that in an effort to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition aggravated by climate change, the African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC), had launched the African Plant Breeding Academy (AfPBA)CRISPR Course in January 2023, in Kenya.
According to her, this was to build capacity in gene editing for crop improvement among national program scientists in Africa.
She further disclosed that the course was designed and coordinated by the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), and delivered in partnership with the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) at Berkeley and IITA.
The director said the first cohort included 10 doctorate-level scientists from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco and Nigeria.
Solebo said these were the nations desiring to upgrade their skills in advanced crop breeding using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR).
She explained that CRISPR was a tool that allows scientists to make precise and specific changes to DNA sequences in living organisms, including crops.
“The technology will allow plant breeders to improve the crop varieties for resiliency to climate change and biotic and abiotic stresses as well as yield and nutritional content for important vitamins and minerals.
“These vitamins and minerals are critical for human health and development,” Solebo said.
