FAO donates GMO detection equipment to Kyrgyz laboratories
Bishkek, Dec. 19, 2025. /Kabar/. On December 18, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) donated modern laboratory equipment, consumables, and diagnostic test kits for the detection and identification of GMOs to specialized laboratories in Kyrgyzstan.
According to FAO, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) provided assistance with the procurement and delivery. The technical assistance was provided as part of the FAO project "Implementation of the National Biosafety Framework in Compliance with the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety."
FAO Representative in Kyrgyzstan Oleg Guchgeldyev noted that strengthening laboratory capacity is one of the key areas of the project. He stated that the equipment donation represents an important practical step toward expanding national capabilities in monitoring, identifying, and evaluating biotechnological products, as well as analyzing potential risks to the environment and public health.
"The project is building technical capacity. This primarily involves equipping laboratories to detect GMOs and living modified organisms (LMOs) and increasing the capacity of laboratory staff. Combined with other measures, this will enable Kyrgyzstan to ensure reliable and effective protection against adverse impacts on the country's ecosystem and biodiversity, and will also eliminate risks to public health," he said.
Modern equipment sets were donated to:
* Chemical-toxicology department of veterinary diagnostics center and Veterinary service for livestock, pasture, and forage Development;
* Laboratory for molecular genetic and virological research of the department of disease prevention and state sanitary and epidemiological surveillance of the Ministry of Health of Kyrgyzstan;
* Food and agricultural products testing laboratory of the Center for Standardization and Metrology (Kyrgyzstandart);
* Institute of Biotechnology of the National Academy of Sciences under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Aigul Zhumakanova, head of the laboratory testing center at the department of disease prevention and state sanitary and epidemiological surveillance, noted the FAO project's significant contribution to strengthening national laboratory capacity. According to her, over the past two years, the center's specialists have been trained in methods for detecting GMOs in food products, primarily of plant and dairy origin.
"FAO project combines human capacity development with technical equipment for laboratories. We received a spectrophotometer, a laboratory mill, a homogenizer, as well as consumables and test kits, which enables us to ensure continuous and high-quality monitoring of food products for GMOs," she said.
The donated equipment will improve the accuracy, reliability, and speed of laboratory testing.
