Dr. El-Kassaby will give an invited presentation on Tuesday, August 26, for the IUFRO-CTIA Main Conference.  The abstract of his presentation is provided below.

Breeding Without Breeding

An innovative approach to tree breeding called “Breeding Without Breeding” (BWB) is presented. The method allows the capture of, at least, 90% of the genetic gain attained through conventional programs without the need to any controlled pollination and experimental field testing. BWB combines the use of phenotypic or genotypic pre-selection of superior individuals, informative DNA markers for pedigree reconstruction of offspring to assemble naturally created full- and half-sib families, and advanced quantitative genetics analyses to identify elite genotypes. BWB utility is demonstrated using a retrospective study of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) tests consisting of progenies produced from 150 controlled crosses among 60 parents and established over three sites. The empirical results are supported by theoretical expectations demonstrating anticipated minimum genetic gain compared to conventional approaches. The method’s simplicity offers an exceptional opportunity to allow the development of comparable breeding efforts in developed and developing countries, advanced and new breeding programs, and economically important and “minor” species.

Dr. El-Kassaby is currently a Professor and Senior Industry-NSERC Research Chair in Applied Forest Genetics and Biotechnology at the Department of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver.  He has a Ph.D. in population and quantitative genetics from the Faculty of Forestry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, a M.Sc. in quantitative genetics from the University of Tanta, Egypt and a B.Sc. in Genetics from the University of Alexandria, Egypt.  Prior to his current post, Yousry worked in the industry as Director, Genetics and Product Development, CellFor Inc., and as Director, Applied Forest Research, Pacific Forest Products Ltd, both based in Victoria, British Columbia.  During this period, he also maintained an active association with The University of British Columbia as a part-time professor.

Yousry has received numerous research grants in the area of Forest Genetics and Tree Improvement totaling an excess of $10M, and has authored and co-authored more than 200 refereed publications, book chapters and invited papers.  His research interest is diverse and covers tree domestication, tree improvement delivery system, seed and seedling biology and production, gene conservation, biotechnology and genomics.

Yousry is the IUFRO representative on the Forest Genetic Resources’ Panel of Experts of the Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations in Rome, is a member of the IUFRO Extended Board and is the IUFRO Biotechnology TaskForce Coordinator.  He serves as an Associate Editor to the Canadian Journal of Forest Research, a member of the Editorial Review Board for Forest Genetics, and has served on the Editorial Review Board of Tree Physiology.  He is a Registered Professional Foresters.