b'EXTRASRAY GUNS LET SCIENTISTS USE LIGHT INSTEADNEW REPORT FROM NORDGEN FOREST OF DNA TO TELL PLANT POPULATIONS APART COMPILES STATISTICS ON FOREST SEEDS AND PLANTS IN THE NORDIC REGIONIn Star Trek, characters carry a little handheld device called a tri-corder that they can point at objects to analyze and identify them.Forest regeneration with the proper seed and plant material is When the shows writers cooked up the idea in the 1960s, it wascrucial to achieve this. The recent report Statistics: Forest Seeds purely science fiction, but a new paper in New Phytologist takesand Plants in the Nordic Region is the first report on this subject the idea a step closer to reality. The researchers used a handheldrecently published by NordGen Forest.device that looks a little like a ray gun to record how plant leavesOver several years, we have been collecting data from the on different Alaskan mountains reflect light. And, it turns out,Nordic countries. It is a strength to compile this information in different populations of plants of the same species for instance,a joint report. These statistics are important for understanding plants living on neighboring mountaintops reflect light differ- developments within the plant and seed production in the region, ently, in ways that echo their genetic variation from each other. says NordGen Forests section leader, Kjersti Bakkeb Fjellstad.While trained biologists can usually walk into the field andThe report aims at giving an overview of the use of seeds identify species with their eyes, it takes expensive genetic analy- and seedlings in the Nordic countries, with key statistics from ses to reveal the populations groups of individuals of the sameDenmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. This statistics species within a gene poolthat are so important for conser- report is the first in a series that is expected to be published in vation and evolutionary research, says Dawson White, a post- the coming years.doctoral researcher at Chicagos Field Museum and the studysIt is important for the Nordic co-operation that we have co-lead author. In this new study, weve shown that you can useaccess to joint data to get an overview of the situation. Our wish light instead of DNA to define plant populations, at a similar levelis to produce annual statistics reports, as well as to include more of detail. This new method is a lot faster and cheaper than geneticelements in the statistics. For example, more information about testing, which could dramatically increase our efficiency at map- exports may be relevant, says Thomas Solvin, secretary, NordGen ping and monitoring biodiversity. Forests working group.DNA is like an instruction manual on how to build an organ- The report is primarily based on country reports (2013-ism, and it turns out that this manual contains instructions for2020), from the Nordic co-operation, through NordGen Forest building and combining the smallest individual parts that makeRegeneration Council. In addition, the statistics has been comple-up that organism, says Lance Stasinski, a graduate studentmented by data from Skogsstyrelsen (SE), LUKE (FI), Icelandic researcher at the University of Maine and the papers other co-leadForest Service (IS), Finnish Food Authority Ruokavirasto (FI), author. We are able to use light that is reflected from these partsNaturstyrelsen (DK) and Skogfrverket (NO).to determine which instruction manual was used to build theSource: NordGenorganism even when the instruction manuals vary by only a handful of words.Source: Field MuseumWORLD FOOD DAY 2021: FAO HAILS NEW MOMENTUM AND ENERGY ON AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS DESPITE UNPRECEDENTED CRISESWorld Food Day 2021 celebrations began Oct. 15, with a global event where participants noted that while the challenges of global hunger, climate crisis and COVID-19 remain formidable, there is also a new momentum and energy behind efforts to transform our agri-food systems, making them more fit for purpose.A UN Food Systems Summitlast month mapped out the broad outlines of how the world needs to move forward to reshape the structures under which our food is produced, distributed and consumed.Together, we have been rolling up our sleeves to lead the implementation and drive the transformation, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said in his address to the FAO-hosted World Food Day celebration. He also pointed to the contribution made by the ground-breaking World Food Forum convened earlier this month in Romea global movement that seeks to harnesses the energy and creativity of young people to shape a better future for our food.Qu noted that this years World Food Day finds the world at a critical moment. Despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in the past year we have also witnessed the resilience and strength within each of us. In particular he paid tribute to all our Food Heroes around the world who continued to work against all the odds to ensure we had food to eat.Even before COVID-19, hundreds of millions of people worldwide were afflicted by hunger and that number has increased in the last year to 811 million. Thats despite the world producing sufficient food to feed everyone. He also noted that 14 percent of food is lost, and 17 percent is wasted.The momentous challenges humanity faces were also highlighted by Pope Francis and Italys president, Sergio Mattarella in their messages to the World Food Day event.We are currently witnessing a real paradox in terms of access to food: on the one hand, more than three billion people do not have access to a nutritious diet, while on the other hand, almost two billion are overweight or obese due to a poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle, the pontiff said.38IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'