In Sept 2013 VIB’s Technology Scouting team launched the Tools and Technology Conference Series with the first edition of Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology. Meanwhile, three successful editions (September 2013, January 2016, and January 2018) have been hold, featuring each time around 300 attendees, more than 20 company booths and over the years an increasing number of poster presenters. In September 2021, GESB will have its 4th edition.
The impact of GESB meetings
Thomas Jacobs (Group Leader at VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology) about the importance of organizing the GESB conferences:
"The GESB meeting is important for putting VIB on the map of genome editing and synthetic biology. While many of VIB's researchers are well known, the institute as a whole is largely unheard out both within Europe and abroad. With this meeting we are able to attract the top level of genome engineering and synthetic biology researchers from around the world to Flanders for an exciting series of seminars on the cutting edge of biotechnology. This is also a wonderful experience for our young researchers to be exposed to these researchers and discuss their research in the various networking opportunities. Meeting with such scientists is a rare treat for most PhDs and postdocs."
New trends and developments
The Genome Engineering field has been revolutionized by CRISPR technologies, resulting in rapid, affordable, and multiplex editing of genomes. Moreover, the number of CRISPR applications is continuously increasing. By improvements in safety and reducing off-target effects, the CRISPR toolbox is now being applied in therapeutic and agricultural applications. Next to this, progress in the Synthetic Biology field has been accelerated by recent developments in DNA synthesis and assembly technologies, and the expansion of the genetic code.
Specific focus of this edition
During this two-day conference, the latest developments in the fields of Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology will be presented by over 30 speakers from academia and industry. The world-renowned academics will showcase their latest research breakthroughs, while the technology developers in industry present their disruptive new technology platforms which drive the field forward.
This exciting conference puts together an excellent program including renowned leaders in the field that will cover the following topics:
- Tissue engineering, which includes Sarah Christine Heilshorn (Stanford University, US)
- Direct evolution of pathways, which includes Jane Langdale (University of Oxford, UK), who will talk about the C4 Rice Challenge
- Protein design, which includes Edward Lemke (Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), DE, Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU), DE & EMBL, DE)
- Bionanomaterials which includes Lynn Rothschild (NASA Ames Research Center, US)
- CRISPR applications which includes Janice Chen (Mammoth Biosciences, US)
- Single Cell (meets CRISPR) which includes Tilmann Buerckstuemmer (Aelian Biotechnology, AT)
- DNA Synthesis which includes Henry Lee (Kern Systems, US)
- Truly genome engineering which includes Patrick Yizhi Cai (Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, UK)
Want to find out more? Click on the link below.
