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The Indonesian Regional Branch Office of AFOB, a non-profit organization that promotes cooperation on scientific grounds between scientists from academia and industry in the Asian region for the general advancement of biotechnology.

19/09/2026

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un

The Executive Board and Members of the Asian Federation of Biotechnology Indonesia (AFOB-ID) extend our deepest condolences on the passing of:

Mr. Haryo Pramono bin Wardjiman

(Beloved husband of Prof. Dr. Puspita Lisdiyanti, M. Agr. Chem. - General Secretary of AFOB Indonesia)

May Almighty God/Allah SWT forgive his sins, accept all his good deeds, and grant him the highest place in Jannah.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Prof. Puspita Lisdiyanti and her family. May they be granted strength, comfort, and peace during this time of sorrow.

09/09/2026

Before Indonesia became a recognizable name in ASEAN biotechnology research, three universities decided to stop competing and start collaborating.

In 1985, IPB University, Institut Teknologi Bandung, and Universitas Gadjah Mada jointly established the Inter-University Center for Biotechnology (PAU Bioteknologi), a shared research infrastructure years before any of them had a dedicated biotechnology study program of their own. Seven years later, in 1992, IPB launched one of Indonesia's first formal biotechnology study programs, built directly on that inter-university foundation.

This carousel traces that timeline alongside similar milestones from Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Thailand, and Bangladesh, not to rank who was "first," but to show how differently biotech education took root across the region. Some countries built it inside existing chemistry or agriculture departments. Indonesia built it as a cross-institutional collaboration from day one.

Dates are drawn from each institution's own published records. If you know of an earlier program we missed, we'd like to hear about it.

25/08/2026

AFOB Indonesia Chapter wishes a peaceful Mawlid an-Nabi to all our members and colleagues celebrating today.

May this day bring reflection, community, and renewed goodwill.

17/08/2026

Every seed begins in dependence, drawing on reserves it never made itself.

Independence begins the moment it turns toward the sun and starts producing its own.

Eighty-one years ago, Indonesia broke through its own seed coat. Today, that same instinct shapes its science, a nation turning the world's richest biodiversity into the capacity to heal, feed, and sustain itself.

Happy 81st Independence Day, Indonesia.
Selamat HUT ke-81 Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia.

14/08/2026

Celebrating National Scout Day (Hari Pramuka) in Indonesia! 🇮🇩🥥

In Indonesia, the coconut sprout (Tunas Kelapa) is cherished as the national emblem of Scouting—symbolizing adaptability, resilience, and utility in every environment.

In the realm of biotechnology, the coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) represents one of the most versatile tropical bio-resources in Asia:
🔹 Plant Biotechnology: Advanced tissue culture technique for mass propagation of elite varieties.

🔹 Bioprocess Engineering: Coconut water as a natural, nutrient-rich substrate for microbial fermentation and bacterial cellulose production.

🔹 Biomaterials: High-value bio-composites and active carbon derived from husk and shell by-products.

On this National Scout Day, AFOB-ID honors the spirit of exploration, sustainability, and scientific curiosity among the young generation across the region!

24/07/2026

What if a natural genetic element - not a protein editor, not CRISPR - could write large gene cassettes directly into plant genomes at a defined safe-harbor locus, without inducing a double-strand break?

A team at KAUST just demonstrated exactly that, using R2 retrotransposons in to***co and rice. Published in Nature Biotechnology.

R2 elements use target-primed reverse transcription (TPRT) to insert RNA-templated cargo into 28S rDNA arrays - high-copy, transcriptionally active loci that don't overlap coding sequences. No DSB. No HDR dependency. No reliance on endogenous repair machinery that varies by cell type and genotype.

Key numbers from the paper:
→ 75% full-length insertion fidelity in N. benthamiana
→ 17% integration efficiency in rice callus — first-ever R2 demonstration in a crop
→ 2.2 kb maximum cargo size — well beyond practical CRISPR-HDR limits in plants
→ Three orthogonal recombinase sites (attP/lox66/FRT) installed in a single step

The honest caveat: no stable transgenic rice plants were recovered from regenerated callus. Sustained R2 activity during regeneration remains the central bottleneck, not a footnote.

Still — rDNA safe-harbor integration without DSBs, at cargo sizes that make multigene trait stacking plausible, is a meaningful proof of concept for crop genome engineering.

📄 Ali, Butt et al. (2026) · Nature Biotechnology
DOI: 10.1038/s41587-026-03181-6

17/07/2026

We are heading to INALAB 2026! 🔬🌏

The Asian Federation of Biotechnology - Indonesia Chapter (AFOB-ID) is excited to announce our participation in the region's premier laboratory and analytical technology exhibition, INALAB 2026!

🗓️ Date: 28–30 July 2026
📍 Venue: JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, Indonesia

Are you a researcher, student, industry professional, or biotech enthusiast looking to expand your regional network? Come and meet us!
We are hosting an interactive pavilion at Booth 𝐂𝟏𝐁𝟏-𝟎𝟓. Drop by to explore international research collaborations, learn about upcoming scientific forums, and find out how you can become part of the AFOB community.

🎁 Special Perk: We have exclusive, limited-edition corporate souvenirs waiting for you! Make sure to visit our booth early to claim yours while stocks last.

Skip the long queues at the venue by securing your pass today. Pre-register online now via the official link:
👉 https://agro-chemical.reg-gemindonesia.net/

See you at JIExpo Kemayoran! Let’s advance biotechnology innovation together across Asia! 🤝✨

06/07/2026

📢 CALL FOR PAPERS: BIOTECH MEET BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 🧬✨

The Asian Federation of Biotechnology - Indonesia Chapter (AFOB-ID) proudly supports the 11th International Symposium on Biomedical Engineering (ISBE 2026)!
We invite all biotech researchers, academics, professionals, and students within the AFOB network to submit their latest innovations at this prestigious multidisciplinary forum.

For the biotech community, this is a prime opportunity to showcase your work in cutting-edge tracks such as:
🔬 Biomaterials, Regenerative Medicine & Nanotechnology
🔬 Digital Health, AI & Clinical Informatics
🔬 Global Health, Sustainability & Precision Medicine

Let’s bridge biotechnology and engineering to shape the future of healthcare innovation!

📍 Venue: IDE Building, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
📅 Conference Date: 19–21 October 2026
🚨 Abstract Submission Deadline: 15 July 2026

✨ Theme: Advancing Human Health through Multidisciplinary Engineering

📌 Swipe left to scan the QR codes for registration, paper submission guidelines, and templates.

🌐 For more information, visit: https://isbe.eng.ui.ac.id/

30/06/2026

What if rice could repair its own solar panels during a drought?

That's essentially what OsFeSOD3 does.

Scientists at Chonnam National University just identified a single rice gene that tackles two of the biggest problems in drought-stressed crops — at the same time.

WHAT MAKES THIS UNUSUAL
Most antioxidant genes just clean up damage. OsFeSOD3 does something more: it physically plugs into the PEP complex — the molecular machine that builds chloroplasts from scratch. Remove the gene entirely, and rice seedlings turn white and stop growing. Not because of stress. Just because chloroplasts can't form at all.

That's how essential this gene is under normal conditions — which makes the fact that overexpressing it causes zero side effects under normal temperatures all the more surprising.

OsFeSOD3 is ancient and widespread. The gene is conserved across barley, maize, wheat, tomato, to***co, and even moss — one of the earliest land plants. This isn't a rice-specific quirk. It's a fundamental plant survival mechanism that evolution has kept intact for hundreds of millions of years.

WHY IT MATTERS FOR ASIA
Drought is already one of the leading causes of rice yield loss across Southeast Asia. As El Niño cycles intensify, smallholder farmers in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and beyond face growing seasons with less reliable rainfall and no margin for crop failure.

OsFeSOD3 doesn't just improve drought survival — it does so without touching yield under normal conditions. That's the critical difference for farmers who can't afford to gamble on a stress-tolerant variety that underperforms in a good year.

📄 Seo, Jung & Jang (2026) · Plant Biotechnology Journal
DOI: 10.1111/pbi.70508

💾 Save this · Share with your network
💬 What other crop genes do you think deserve this kind of spotlight?

28/06/2026

What if rice could simply wake up earlier to avoid the heat?

Scientists from NARO (Japan) and IRRI have discovered EMF3 — a gene that shifts rice flowering up to 2 hours earlier, into the cooler morning window, before temperatures peak.

The result? Grain fertility protected. Yields maintained. No other plant traits affected.

"It allows rice to 'escape the heat' at its most critical stage, protecting fertilization and ensuring farmers can harvest even under extreme temperatures."
— Dr. Tsutomu Ishimaru, NARO

The EMF3 variant has already been tested in 6 major cultivars across Asia, Africa, and Latin America — with seed setting rates jumping from 47% to 88% under heat stress conditions.

And for AFOB-ID members: our own Dr. Inez Slamet-Loedin (Head of Rice Genetic Design & Validation, IRRI) highlights that gene-editing tools like prime editing could rapidly bring this trait into elite varieties worldwide — accelerating climate-smart rice breeding across tropical and temperate ecosystems.

📄 Ishizaki et al. (2026), Plant Biotechnology Journal
DOI: 10.1111/pbi.70653

🔖 Save this post | Share with your network
💬 What do you think — is heat-escape breeding the future of climate-resilient crops?

Address

AFOB INDONESIA/Lt. 3 Gedung ILRC Perpustakaan Lama Kampus UI
Depok
16424

Website

http://www.afob.org/

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