GENETICS LABORATORY WAS OPENED AT THE AGRARIAN UNIVERSITY

The Deputy Head of FAS  Gennady Magazinov, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture Maxim Uvaidov, Rector of the Timiryazev Russian State Agricultural Academy, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Trukhachev and the representatives of Bayer and the HSE Technology Transfer Center attended the opening.

The laboratory is equipped with modern equipment for the research of agricultural crops of plants and tissues at the molecular and cellular level. Its creation was financed by, inter alia, Bayer. This was one of the conditions of FAS’s order issued when clearing the merger of Bayer and Monsanto. At the laboratory, Russian specialists will be trained in accelerated selection methods within the framework of the technology transfer project.

Technological transfer is another condition of FAS’s order. Bayer is obliged to transfer to Russian breeders the molecular breeding tools and germplasm necessary for breeding new varieties and hybrids of agricultural crops. In addition, as part of the technological transfer to Skoltech, the newest research and training center for plant biotechnologies has been created.

As Gennady Magazinov noted, the project of creating an educational and scientific center, implemented within the framework of the execution of the FAS Russia’ order, is unprecedented in the practice of applying antimonopoly law when considering transactions in innovative markets. The Genetics Laboratory, established at the K.A. Timiryazev Russian State Agricultural Academy, is part of this project aimed at increasing the competitiveness of Russian breeding in the global market.