Dr. Guy Van Den Eede

Doctor Guy Van Den Eede’s research career started at the laboratory of Genetics at Ghent University in Belgium, where the bases for gene transfer to plants were discovered. For the last 20 years, Dr. Van Den Eede has been working at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in Ispra, Italy. He is the head of the Molecular Biology and Genomics Unit, which is the reference laboratory for the genetically modified food and feed and provides a scientific and technical support to policy development from the field. As a head of the European network of GMO laboratories doctor Van Den Eede, has been cooperating tightly with us since we have started with the detection of genetically modified organisms and he has opened us the door to this network. Our intensive cooperation with him resulted in several reputable publications. His support is also important for the National Institute of Biology when it comes to its role of the National Reference Laboratory, providing scientific and technical assistance to the competent authorities for the implementation of official control. With his visits to the National Institute of Biology, lectures and opinions, Guy Van Den Eede importantly influenced the establishment of the Biological Safety System in Slovenia; doing so also during NIB’s heading of the UNEP-GEF project, which was one of the key steps in the implementation of the system. At the European Union level he gave the initiative for common research work on co-existence and traceability of GMOs resulting in a sixth framework's project COEXTRA, in which the institute held one of the key roles in developing new technologies for GMO detection. Doctor Van Den Eede served as an auditor during the Institute’s self-evaluation process, and his constructive comments importantly contributed to our Institute's further steps and strategies.