Blogs

The illegal trade in animal and plant species forms a significant treat for the biodiversity. The Federal Minute video focusses on BopCo-CE and their efforts to provide a species identification for plant and animal tissues confiscated from luggage imported into Belgium.

Recently RBINS installed a fully functioning eDNA lab. To share this new expertise to the research community RBINS organizes a one-day symposium on this topic. The symposium will be held on the 13th of December 2022.

The European Society for Vector Ecology (ESOVE) is a professional organization formed in 1968 committed to solving many complex problems encountered in the field of vector biology and control – among these are the suppression of disease vectors through integration of control elements, such as environmental management, biological control and public education. ESOVE organizes one European conference every year, which is an internationally recognized and prestigious conference.

After its recent identification in Belgium using DNA-based technologies, a new member of the Anopheles maculipennis complex was also recently discovered in the Netherlands: Anopheles daciae. Because several pathogens were isolated from species of the Maculipennis complex, including malaria, it is important to be able to identify them accurately and to map their distribution for monitoring programs.

BopCo has attended the International Conference on DNA Barcoding and Biodiversity (ICDBB) in Sofia (Bulgaria) on 25-27/05/2022. The event is organized by the Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, as part of the BULCode project (https://www.plantbulcode.com/) supported by the National Program “European Scientific Networks”, Ministry of Education and Science of Bulgaria. The ICDBB 2022 was a hybrid event with in-person aspects held at the Park hotel Moskva and virtual posters and presentations.