KEYNOTE AND PLENARY SPEAKERS
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Detlef Weigel, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Germany
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Detlef Weigel will speak about his natural genetic variation work & about how the science community has been engaging with governments to ensure that Europe can benefit from genetic variation that occurs naturally & that induced by genome editing.
Abstract
Genetic and genomic variation has been the focus of my lab for over two decades, and we have been interested in the rate and spectrum of spontaneous mutations as well as their fate in the face of selection. Inadvertently, this has embroiled us in controversies surrounding targeted mutations created by genome editing, often called “new breeding techniques” or NBTs. For example, we published a paper in 2011 on Illumina short read-based detection of genetic variation, where we focused on indels of up to 20 bp in wild strains of Arabidopsis thaliana. Of course, the genomes of different strains from the same species generally have many differences that are much larger than 20 bp. We even reported on such larger indels, also called structural variants or SVs, but because we had less confidence in calling these due to limitations of the technology at the time, such larger variants did not play a large role in further analyses in that paper. However, the number of 20 bp ended up in a scientific assessment of the maximum size of genome edits that should be acceptable as being equivalent to natural mutations, the argument being that mutations of up to 20 bp could not be distinguished from natural variants. Conversely, a very recent finding from the lab about the non-randomness of spontaneous mutations has been used by opponents of NBTs to argue for genome edits being unnatural and therefore dangerous.
In my lecture, I will discuss what we and others have learned about variation in plant genomes, and how these insights can be useful when discussing genome editing and NBTs with various stakeholders.
Abstract
Genetic and genomic variation has been the focus of my lab for over two decades, and we have been interested in the rate and spectrum of spontaneous mutations as well as their fate in the face of selection. Inadvertently, this has embroiled us in controversies surrounding targeted mutations created by genome editing, often called “new breeding techniques” or NBTs. For example, we published a paper in 2011 on Illumina short read-based detection of genetic variation, where we focused on indels of up to 20 bp in wild strains of Arabidopsis thaliana. Of course, the genomes of different strains from the same species generally have many differences that are much larger than 20 bp. We even reported on such larger indels, also called structural variants or SVs, but because we had less confidence in calling these due to limitations of the technology at the time, such larger variants did not play a large role in further analyses in that paper. However, the number of 20 bp ended up in a scientific assessment of the maximum size of genome edits that should be acceptable as being equivalent to natural mutations, the argument being that mutations of up to 20 bp could not be distinguished from natural variants. Conversely, a very recent finding from the lab about the non-randomness of spontaneous mutations has been used by opponents of NBTs to argue for genome edits being unnatural and therefore dangerous.
In my lecture, I will discuss what we and others have learned about variation in plant genomes, and how these insights can be useful when discussing genome editing and NBTs with various stakeholders.
Joanne Chory, Salk Institute, USA
Title: Fighting Climate Change with Plants: Arabidopsis takes center stage
Speaking: Monday 21 June
Joanne Chory will speak about the Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI) she is leading, an innovative, scalable and bold approach to fight climate change by optimizing a plant’s natural ability to capture and store carbon and adapt to diverse climate conditions.
Abstract
The world is facing a global sustainability crisis. The population stands today at >7.5B and is expected to increase to 11B by 2100. The increasing demand for food, fuel, land, and other natural resources is creating consequences that exceed the planet’s capacity to absorb change and maintain stability. At the current pace of change, human life as we know it may not be sustainable on earth in a little over 100 years. Feeling the urgent need to be a part of the solution, Salk Institute plant scientists have developed a plan to bend the upward trending curve back down to a range where the planet’s natural systems of maintaining balance can cope. The idea is to improve plants’ natural ability to capture and store carbon stably in the ground. I will tell you about our plans to alter 3 traits in plant roots that we hope will allow us to draw down atmospheric CO2 at a global level in 10-15 years.
Recent advances in mechanistic plant biology, genomics, and precision agriculture/breeding suggest that this goal is within our reach. By improving plants’ natural ability to deposit carbon in the soil in a form that does not easily decompose, we can sequester enough CO2 to make a significant contribution to the global effort being pursued on many fronts to become carbon neutral or net negative.
Abstract
The world is facing a global sustainability crisis. The population stands today at >7.5B and is expected to increase to 11B by 2100. The increasing demand for food, fuel, land, and other natural resources is creating consequences that exceed the planet’s capacity to absorb change and maintain stability. At the current pace of change, human life as we know it may not be sustainable on earth in a little over 100 years. Feeling the urgent need to be a part of the solution, Salk Institute plant scientists have developed a plan to bend the upward trending curve back down to a range where the planet’s natural systems of maintaining balance can cope. The idea is to improve plants’ natural ability to capture and store carbon stably in the ground. I will tell you about our plans to alter 3 traits in plant roots that we hope will allow us to draw down atmospheric CO2 at a global level in 10-15 years.
Recent advances in mechanistic plant biology, genomics, and precision agriculture/breeding suggest that this goal is within our reach. By improving plants’ natural ability to deposit carbon in the soil in a form that does not easily decompose, we can sequester enough CO2 to make a significant contribution to the global effort being pursued on many fronts to become carbon neutral or net negative.
CONFIRMED PLENARY SPEAKERS
KEYNOTE AND PLENARY SESSIONS AND SPEAKERS
Monday 21 June
7 - 8 am Pacific Time
Keynote Seminar
JOANNE CHORY, SALK INSTITUTE, USA
Plenary #1: 8:30 - 9:30 am Pacific Time
Post-transcriptional Mechanisms of Gene Regulation
Hongwei Guo, Southern China University of Science and Technology, China
Steven Spoel, University of Edinburgh, UK
Plenary #2: 9:45- 11:45 am Pacific Time
Systems Approaches to Understanding and Engineering Plant Biology
Nicola Patron, Earlham Institute, UK
Naomi Nakayama, Imperial College London, UK
David Savage, UC Berkeley, USA
Elizabeth Sattely, Stanford University, USA
Tuesday 22 June
Plenary #3: 7 - 8:30 am Pacific Time
Intercellular Communication
Ji-Young Lee, Seoul National University, South Korea
Sota Fujii, University of Tokyo and NAIST, Japan
Tessa Burch-Smith, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA
Plenary #4: 8:45- 10:15 am Pacific Time
Plasticity of Plant Development In Response to the Environment
Yuling Jiao, IGDB- CAS, China
Miltos Tsiantis, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Germany
Kathleen Donohue, Duke University, USA
7 - 8 am Pacific Time
Keynote Seminar
JOANNE CHORY, SALK INSTITUTE, USA
Plenary #1: 8:30 - 9:30 am Pacific Time
Post-transcriptional Mechanisms of Gene Regulation
Hongwei Guo, Southern China University of Science and Technology, China
Steven Spoel, University of Edinburgh, UK
Plenary #2: 9:45- 11:45 am Pacific Time
Systems Approaches to Understanding and Engineering Plant Biology
Nicola Patron, Earlham Institute, UK
Naomi Nakayama, Imperial College London, UK
David Savage, UC Berkeley, USA
Elizabeth Sattely, Stanford University, USA
Tuesday 22 June
Plenary #3: 7 - 8:30 am Pacific Time
Intercellular Communication
Ji-Young Lee, Seoul National University, South Korea
Sota Fujii, University of Tokyo and NAIST, Japan
Tessa Burch-Smith, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA
Plenary #4: 8:45- 10:15 am Pacific Time
Plasticity of Plant Development In Response to the Environment
Yuling Jiao, IGDB- CAS, China
Miltos Tsiantis, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Germany
Kathleen Donohue, Duke University, USA
Wednesday 23 June
Plenary #5: 7 - 8:30 am Pacific Time
New Frontiers in Plant-Biotic Interactions
Sponsored by The Plant Cell
Ken Shirasu, RIKEN, Japan
Xin-Li, University of British Columbia, Canada
Noah Whiteman, UC Berkeley, USA
Plenary #5: 7 - 8:30 am Pacific Time
New Frontiers in Plant-Biotic Interactions
Sponsored by The Plant Cell
Ken Shirasu, RIKEN, Japan
Xin-Li, University of British Columbia, Canada
Noah Whiteman, UC Berkeley, USA
Plenary #6: 8:45- 10:15 am Pacific Time
Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Cell Differentiation and Intracellular Signaling
Katie Dehesh, UC Riverside, USA
Roger Deal, Emory University, USA
Mary Gehring, MIT-Whitehead, USA
Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Cell Differentiation and Intracellular Signaling
Katie Dehesh, UC Riverside, USA
Roger Deal, Emory University, USA
Mary Gehring, MIT-Whitehead, USA
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Thursday 24 June
8:30- 9:30 am Pacific Time
Keynote Seminar
DETLEF WEIGEL, MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, GERMANY
Sponsored by RIKEN BRC and CSRS
Plenary #7: 10- 11:30 am Pacific Time
Translating Research Into Impact
Peter van Esse, The Sainsbury Laboratory, UK
Pam Ronald, UC Davis, USA
Vi Shukla, Gates Foundation, USA
8:30- 9:30 am Pacific Time
Keynote Seminar
DETLEF WEIGEL, MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, GERMANY
Sponsored by RIKEN BRC and CSRS
Plenary #7: 10- 11:30 am Pacific Time
Translating Research Into Impact
Peter van Esse, The Sainsbury Laboratory, UK
Pam Ronald, UC Davis, USA
Vi Shukla, Gates Foundation, USA