Ocean’s Twelve or GMOs?

Recently a number of FSA colleagues attended the 1st Global Conference on GMO Analysis held at the Villa Erba Conference Centre in Cernobbio, Como, Italy.  Some of you might well recognise Villa Erba because it was one of the locations used when filming Ocean’s Twelve starring George Clooney, a well known resident of the Como area, along with other Hollywood notables.  Although my colleagues were sadly unable to mingle with the glitterati of the movie world they were fortunate enough to attend this inaugural conference along with over 600 other experts on GMO analysis from over 90 countries.  This conference was the first time the principle world experts on GMO analysis have been able to meet at a single location and engage in scientific dialogue on issues relating to this complex area of analysis.  Methods of choice for GMO analysis continue to be those based upon Real Time Polymerised Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) techniques and it is clear that further work needs to be undertaken by the analytical community in relation to sampling strategies used for the detection of GMOs from farm to fork.

I was especially pleased to hear that staff from the Agency’s Scientific Data Quality Branch had been invited to give a keynote lecture on ‘Harmonisation at the International and Regional Level’.  By all accounts their lecture was a success and widely appreciated because it dealt with knotty analytical issues such as measurement and sampling uncertainty; topics that continue to confuse and baffle many analysts!  Numerous other oral and poster presentations were given, many of which will be made available from the conference website. I would like to personally congratulate the EU Joint Research Centre and the conference scientific organising committee for a highly successful and very well conducted event.

As many of you regular Wadge bloggers know I’m a keen advocate of continued professional development (CPD) and encourage Agency scientists to attend events such as that held in Como last week, if the opportunity arises.  Not only do these events support CPD they also provide an excellent opportunity for Agency scientists to build and develop working relationships with other experts as well as providing an invaluable source of scientific information and evidence which helps underpin and develop Agency policy.