A “Biosafety Awareness Webinar” organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations was held on the 20th of May 2021 via Zoom. The webinar was held with the goal of disseminating knowledge on biosafety amongst participants from the University of Moratuwa.
Prof. Shantha Walpalage, Head of the Department, Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa welcomed the attendees to the webinar. Thereafter, Dr. Thilini U. Ariyadasa, Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa, delivered a lecture on the “Importance of biosafety and biosafety communication”, to successfully initiate the webinar. The session was vivified by a debate on “Modern biotechnology will be essential for food production in Sri Lanka” and a poster presentation on Genetically Modified (GM) foods, with the participation of students from the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa.
The debate and poster presentation were followed by a lecture on “Modern Biotechnology in Food Production”, delivered by Dr. Mahaletchumy Arujanan, the Global Coordinator of International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications, concurrently working as an International Consultant of the Biosafety Project at FAO. The session also comprised of an informative address on the National Biosafety project by Mr. Shanaka Gunawardena, National Project Manager, Biosafety Project, FAO.
Finally, a productive Q&A session followed, and the webinar was wound up with the closing remarks by Ms. Peshalya Kothalawala, Lecturer, Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa.
