Dr. Aziz Salama, a faculty member at the Faculty of Agriculture concluded a visit to the "The Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, Austria. This visit was part of the "Enhancing Food Security" project, which employs nuclear energy-based technologies and involves Al-Quds Open University alongside several national universities and the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

During the visit, Dr. Salama was introduced to and trained in the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology. This technique was applied to sesame crops as a model and is considered a modern and promising method for genetic modification in living organisms, offering a solution to the challenges of improving plants genetically.

The visit included meetings with several researchers at various research institutes within Austrian universities and scientific institutions, as well as a visit to the International Atomic Energy Agency. During these meetings, the latest techniques and methods used in plant improvement were discussed, along with ways to enhance scientific and research cooperation and potential collaboration between these institutions and the Faculty of Agriculture at Al-Quds Open University.

It is noteworthy that the Enhancing Food Security project utilizing nuclear energy-based technologies, which runs from 2022 to 2025, aims to improve the productivity of several local crop strains in Palestine by employing genetic mutation induction techniques to make them more resilient to climate change factors.

Dr. Salama concluded his visit to BOKU, appreciating its role in collaborating with Al-Quds Open University and expressing readiness for future cooperation that would help improve plant quality and productivity.