Category: News

From 2.-4. The LAURENTIC FORUM online conference will take place in November, and this is the thirteenth time the conference has been held. The aim of the conference is to discuss opportunities and challenges for coastal communities in the Arctic. The program is divided into two parts, ie. tourism (Nov 2) and fisheries (Nov 3 & 4).

The conference takes place online and interested parties can participate free of charge, but registration is required. website of the conference where you can also access the program.

The program is divided into five seminars and in each of them there are presentations from representatives of Iceland, Norway, Ireland and Newfoundland & Labrador. The seminars and speakers can be seen below.

Session 1: Sustainable Tourism: Looking Forward

• Minister Steve Crocker, Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts & Recreation, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Councilor Jack Murray, Mayor of Donegal
• Sigrid Engen, Researcher, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
• Dale Jarvis, Executive Director of Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador
• Johann Vidar Ivarsson, Project Manager at the Icelandic Tourist Board
• Maurice Bergin Managing Director, GreenHospitality.ie (Ireland)
• Margaret Story, TIDE Project Officer

Session 2: The value of the Blue Economy

• Andrew Ward, Joint CEO of Inishowen Development Partnership
• Charlie McConalogue, Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine
• Sunniva Løviknes, Troms and Finnmark County
• Bente Olsen Husby, West - Finnmark Council
• Iris Petten President, Port de Grave Historical Society, NL
• Karl Bonar, Manager, Donegal Blue Economy Marine Cluster
• Sveinn Agnarsson, Professor, University of Iceland School of Business

Session 3: The Engine That Does Not Stop: Changing Course Through Innovation & Technology

• Paul Winger Director, Center for Sustainable Aquatic Resources, Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University
• Þór Sigfusson, Founder and Chairman of the Icelandic Ocean Cluster
• Joanne Gaffney Aquaculture Technical Manager, BIM
• Pål Arne Bjørn, IMR and Jo Inge Hesjevik Fisherman and Regional Political Representative

Session 4: The New Frontier: Sustainable Wealth & Health Through Blue Bioeconomy

• Nils Kristian Sorkem Nilsen, Director Arctic, regional policy, state aid, North Norway EU Office, Brussels
• Jón Þrándur Stefánsson, Ministry of Industries and Innovation (Department of fisheries), Iceland
• Jón Garðar Steingrímsson,Chief Operating Officer, Genis
• Line Kjelstrup, Cluster Manager, BIOTEC NORTH
• Jason Whooley, Chief Executive Officer, Bio-Marine Ingredients Ireland Ltd.
• Heather Burke Director, Center for Aquaculture and Seafood Development, Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University.

Session 5: The Whale in the Room: Climate Change

• Jónas R. Viðarsson, Director of Division of Value Creation, Matís, Iceland
• Glenn Nolan, Head of Oceanographic and Climate Services at the Marine Institute, Galway
• Darrell Mullowney, Shellfish Research Scientist, Fisheries & Oceans, Canada.
• Ragnhildur Friðriksdóttir, Matís, Iceland
• Stein Arne Rånes Senior Policy Advisor for Troms and Finnmark County Council

Contact

Sæmundur Sveinsson

Research Group Leader

saemundurs@matis.is

In the last issue of Bændablaðið, an interview was published with Sæmundur Sveinsson, director of genetic research at Matís, and the topic was a research project he is currently working on in order to protect genetic variability in sheep against rubella.

Bændablaðið's article "Project on the search for protective genetic mutations in sheep against rubella" discussed Matís' project, which is funded by the Professional Council for Sheep Breeding and is carried out in collaboration with Keldur. The project is about refining scabies gene analyzes in Iceland by adding genotypic analyzes of the protective variability that is best known for providing great protection against scrapie in sheep. This is the second of two projects in Iceland today that focus on scrapie analysis.

In the interview, Sæmundur discusses the possibilities inherent in these improvements, but emphasizes that this is not a quick fix, but that the project will possibly provide tools that can be used in the fight against riding in the long run.

The news can be read in its entirety in the last issue of Bændablaðið or on the website bbl.is here: Project on the search for protective genetic mutations in sheep against rubella

Þorsteinn Sigurðsson, director of the Marine Research Institute, and Oddur M. Gunnarsson, director of Matís, signed a co-operation agreement on 27 October. to strengthen and strengthen the institutions' co-operation on research and sharing of infrastructure.

The key to successful science and innovation is good access to research infrastructure and undoubtedly increased collaboration creates significant opportunities for both parties in times of great challenges, for example in aquaculture, genetics and environmental change in the Arctic.

The good co-operation between the institutions has taken place for a long time, from the years when they shared housing at Skúlagöa 4 in Reykjavík. There has also been a great and good collaboration between Matís and the GRÓ Fisheries School, which the Marine Research Institute has hosted for many years. The agreement formalizes this good co-operation as well as creating further opportunities in marine and water research.

Contact

Ásta Heiðrún E. Pétursdóttir

Project Manager

asta.h.petursdottir@matis.is

At the request of the Food Administration, the Risk Assessment Committee in the field of food, feed, fertilizers and seeds has investigated whether the consumption of energy drinks containing caffeine has a negative effect on the health of young people in upper secondary schools.

The report shows that the importance of energy drinks in the total caffeine consumption of Icelandic young people is greater than has been seen in comparable foreign studies. More than half of high school students consume energy drinks once a week or more and 10-20% high school students drink energy drinks daily. Students who consume energy drinks are about six times more likely to exceed the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) thresholds for the amount of caffeine that affects sleep and the caffeine safety limits for the cardiovascular system compared to those students who do not consume energy drinks.

The committee's conclusions indicate that there is reason to restrict upper secondary school students' access to energy drinks, as the supply, accessibility and marketing of energy drinks seem to result in the consumption of Icelandic upper secondary school students being higher than desirable.

The Risk Assessment Committee issued a similar report a year ago which covers the consumption of young people in 8.-10. grade on energy drinks. The results show that the proportion of students who consume energy drinks twice a week or more often increases with age, with about one in ten eighth-graders consuming energy drinks more than twice a week than every other high school student aged 18-20. It is interesting to note that younger young people are more likely to receive energy drinks as a gift in connection with sports and group work (40-70%) than older young people (10%). Recently, the media have covered the report of the Risk Assessment Committee from 2020 on the one hand here: It is common for children to receive energy drinks free of charge and on the other hand here: Swallow twelve times the amount of caffeine and experience discomfort.

The report has been covered in the news recently, but Rúv's coverage can be found here: Icelandic young people crave energy drinks like never before and Vísir's coverage here: Children have to go to the emergency room after consuming energy drinks

Ásta Heiðrún E. Pétursdóttir, division manager at Matís, is the chairman of the risk assessment committee.

Further information and the main results can be found in the news agency Matvælastofnun here: High school students' high consumption of energy drinks gives reason to limit access.

The full report can be accessed here: Report on health risks due to Icelandic young people's consumption of caffeine in beverages in beverages in upper secondary schools.

The scientist Viggó Þór Marteinsson received the floor National Order of Merit.

Viggó studied biology at the University of Iceland and graduated with a BS degree. He went to France for postgraduate studies and defended his doctoral dissertation at the Université de Bretagne Occidentale in early 1997. Viggó is a specialist in microbiology and professor at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition at the University of Iceland as well as being a professional leader in research and innovation at Matís ohf.

After completing his doctorate from the Université de Bretagne Occidentale, he has collaborated well with the French scientific community. This connection has led to many French students coming to Iceland and working for longer and shorter periods on projects that have been part of their projects for a master's or doctoral degree.

"Although some have completed or are completing doctoral studies under my supervision at the University of Iceland and have worked on their research projects at research institutes such as Matís," says Viggó. "Some of these students have been here for a long time after their studies and have research positions at Matís. This successful co-operation between the nations in the field of science continues and I firmly believe that it will be strengthened in the future. "

The word was published on November 20, 2020, but due to Covid-19, the word was given on June 9, 2021.

Matís sincerely congratulates Viggó on the word.

The Arctic Circle conference was held in Harpa last weekend. The conference was the first international event held in Europe since the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Matís took part in the conference and the participation included panel discussions on the blue economy and mainly discussions on the opportunities inherent in the blue bioeconomy in the Arctic. The panel was organized by the Arctic Economic Council. It was about a conversation about how the business community has come to find solutions to various societal challenges through innovation and value creation.

Participants in the panel were:

• Bryndís Björnsdóttir from Matís
• Leslie Canavera from PolArctic
• Patrick Arnold of the New England Ocean Cluster
• Mads Qvist Frederiksen from the Economic Council

The discussions that took place were summarized in a drawing that can be seen here:

The projects undertaken by apprentices and specialists at Matís are varied. Last week, Þóra Valsdóttir, project manager, went on a beach trip with interns Romain Canuel and Sabrina Rechtsteiner.

The reason for going on a beach trip was that in the project MINERVA came to sample collection. The aim of the MINERVA project is to make untapped life resources, in this case biomass of algae growing throughout Europe, higher under the head. This will be done by improving processing methods and thus contributing to less waste and the development of new, valuable high-quality products from the raw material.

The sampling went well, as a rich garden was grazed, as can be seen in the attached pictures.

More information about the project can be found on its project page here: MINERVA

Contact

Sæmundur Sveinsson

Research Group Leader

saemundurs@matis.is

In its latest issue, Bændablaðið published an article about a newly published report by Sæmundur Sveinsson, director of genetic research at Matís, which dealt with parental analyzes in Icelandic sheep.

The report, entitled "Development of a Molecular Genetic Method for Parental Analysis in Icelandic Sheep", was published as a final product of a project of the same name, which was carried out in collaboration with Eyþór Einarsson, a sheep breeding consultant at the Agricultural Advisory Center and funded by the Agricultural Productivity Fund. The aim of the project was to test internationally recognized genetic markers in order to develop tools for parental analysis in Icelandic sheep. It is important for sheep breeding to have the opportunity to be able to confirm the pedigree of animals, both in terms of trusting pedigree data for the breeding work but also for research on genetic defects.

In an interview with Bændablaðið, Sæmundur says that there are hopes that with this diagnostic tool it will be possible to systematically reduce serious genetic defects in sheep, such as those that cause book crises - which is a disease that causes malformations in the development of limbs in lambs.

Bændablaðið's coverage of the project can be read in its entirety here: Parental diagnoses in sheep are most useful in the fight against hereditary sheep diseases.

The report referred to is available on Matís' website here: Development of a molecular genetic method for parental analysis in Icelandic sheep.