Biotech Research in Trinidad & Tobago

Research in Trinidad and Tobago is currently carried out in the areas of agricultural, medical and industrial and environmental biotechnology. Research to date on GMOs is carried out in the laboratory and no GMOs have been released into the environment.

The Biotechnology Laboratory of the Department of Life Sciences of The University of the West Indies (UWI) is the only laboratory that currently is involved in genetic engineering. Two other laboratories, CAB International, and the Central Experimental Station (C.E.S. of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources) have stated their intentions to initiate work in the area in the future.

The work in progress at the UWI is on plant species that are not sources of food. Recombinant vectors in bacteria and modified agrobacteria for transformation are currently the only modified organisms imported.