This 2006 annual report by the IRRDB biotechnology group has been expanded to coyer operations being conducted on Hevea in organizations other than rubber research institutes. The organizations involved are BGRICAS in China (Beijing Gene Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), !RD and UBP-INRA in France, UKM in Malaysia, the universities of Mahidol (MU) and Kasetsart (KU) in Thailand, and the' University of Santa Cruz in Brazil (UESC). Alongside the disciplines usually covered, strategies combining several biotechnologies are proposed and a major surge in transgenesis and genomics has led to new functions being identified and analysed. In vitro culture research is still very active.Work has been resumed on microcuttings. The low multiplication rates for RRIC and RRISL clones have led researchers at RRISL to rejuvenate the clones ·by microbudding embryos onto young I-month-old seedling rootstocks. CIRAD, mRIEC arid IRRI are currently studying the feasibility of propagating rootstock clones by microcuttings. Somatic embryogenesis remains the preferred technique for mass propagation of rubber trees ·on their own roots, aIong with the development of transgenesis. Although sorne Sri Lankan and Malaysian clones (RRIM 2020) remain recalcitrant, routine production, of thousands of plants has been achieved by CATAS, CIRAD and Michelin. Over several years, CIRAD has been developing a technique for the cyropreservation of embryogenic callus which is now being routinely used to conserve lines with high embryogenic potential. Plants genetically modified for endogenous functions or through foreign gene insertion are now regularly produced in Hevea. GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) expression has been achieved at CIRAD to monitor the evolution of transgenic lines and eventually do away with antibiotic-based selection.Work is under way at CATAS and .CIRAD to improve tolerance of cold (HbCBFltranscriptioD factor) and oxidative stress (CuZnSOD) respectively. A'gene inv