A new advanced genomics researchfacility was inaugurated on 29 September 2021 at the headquarters of theInternational Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) to further genomicresearch on, among other things, healthier, more nutritious, and resilient cropsfor sustainable food systems. Asa joint venture between ICBA and BGI Group, the world’s largest genomicresearch institution, theDesert Life Science Laboratory (DLSL) will help to fast-track the discovery anddevelopment of food and other crops suited to marginal environments. Theestablishment of the DLSL is a result of strategic collaboration between ICBAand BGI Group, and is in line with their shared objective of addressing globalchallenges such as hunger and poverty through use of cutting-edge science andtechnology. The lab is equipped with thehigh-throughput sequencer DNBSEQ-G400RS, which is manufactured by MGI, that focuses on R&D, production and sales of DNAsequencing instruments, reagents, and related products.
InternationalCenter for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates
DesertLife Science Lab
During the inauguration, Dr. Ren Wang,Director of BGI Group and Director of China National GeneBank (Shenzhen), said:“The support to the joint ICBA-BGI laboratory by the government of the UAE andthe ICBA management truly reflects a strategic vision to not only bring theplant research capacity of the center to a new level, but also scale up effortsof developing solutions to the challenges in the world’s marginal environments.In today’s genomics era of plant science, the state-of-the-art equipment of thejoint lab will also boost the exchange and collaboration between ICBA andChina. There are over 100 million hectares of salinity-prone agricultural landin China. We are excited about the potential of the joint lab to help China tocombat such challenges as climate change, drought and salinity to ensuresustainable agriculture and food security.”
Dr.Ren Wang, Director of BGI Group and Director of China National GeneBank(Shenzhen), speaks at the inauguration via a video conference call
H.E. Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Changeand Environment of the UAE, said: “The Desert Life Science Laboratory is avital initiative and one that is a significant addition to the UAE’s foodsecurity efforts, as enshrined in the country’s National Food Security Strategy2051. Increased desertification as a result of climate change is expandingmarginal environments, so finding crops with a food value that can not onlytolerate but thrive in these environments is a strategic priority.”
H.E. Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri,Minister of Climate Change and Environment of the UAE addresses at theinauguration
Dr.Tarifa Alzaabi, Acting Director General of ICBA, said: “At ICBA, our goal is toprovide solutions – from crops to technologies - to wide-ranging problemsaffecting agriculture and food production in marginal environments worldwide.With the aid of the DLSL, we hope to be able to serve better the needs of ourstakeholders, including smallholder farmers, scientists, and policymakers, forsuch solutions both in the UAE and elsewhere. Not only will the DLSL facilitateresearch on breeding more resilient food and other crops, but it will also actas a hub for knowledge transfer. More specifically, researchers, specialistsand students from the UAE and other countries will have opportunities toimprove their knowledge and gain practical skills by participating in variousgenomic studies and experiments.”
Inthe future, the DLSL will facilitate work on breeding improved varieties ofcrops which are suitable for local conditions and are more resource-efficient.It will be used for the molecular characterization and genomic analysis ofplant genetic resources available at ICBA’s genebank, which stores some 15,140accessions from more than 150 countries and territories. The DLSL will also offeropportunities for strengthening the capacities of scientists, specialists andstudents in genomic research in the UAE and abroad. More importantly, it will promoteuse of genomic and biotechnological approaches and tools through individual andinstitutional capacity development.
H.E. Mariam bint Mohammed Almheirivisits DLSL, which is equipped with a DNBSEQ-G400RS high-throughput sequencerproduced by MGI
About ICBA
TheInternational Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) is a unique appliedagricultural research center in the world with a focus on marginal areas wherean estimated 1.7 billion people live. It identifies, tests and introducesresource-efficient, climate-smart crops and technologies that are best suitedto different regions affected by salinity, water scarcity and drought. Throughits work, ICBA helps to improve food security and livelihoods for some of thepoorest rural communities around the world.