In Bogor, Indonesia on September 15 of this year, a new project was launched within the BIO-Asia 2015 framework. Supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development (MAEDI) and by LabEx ARBRE, this project entitled “Extraction, characterization and exploitation of bio-molecules from Asian wood sector by-products”, brings together partners across Asia including the Department of Forestry Products at Bogor Agricultural University in Indonesia (IPB), the Forest Biotechnology Laboratory at the University Putra in Malaysia (UPM), and the joint research unit UMR 241 EOI at the University of French Polynesia. Two key partners from the Lorraine region are the Joint Research Unit for Tress/Microorganism Interactions (UMR 1136 – IAM) and as project lead, the Research Unit for the Study and Research of Wood Materials (EA 4370 – LERMAB).

BIO-Asia is a regional program and a French initiative directed at Asia aimed at strengthening high-level scientific collaboration and developing a research network for French and regional academic communities in the fields of biodiversity and biotechnology studies, ranging from the study of natural substances to their applications in agronomy, forestry, health, etc.