Conference Description
The Chloroplast Biotechnology GRS provides a unique forum for young doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to present their work, discuss new methods, cutting edge ideas, and pre-published data, as well as to build collaborative relationships with their peers. Experienced mentors and trainee moderators will facilitate active participation in scientific discussion to allow all attendees to be engaged participants rather than spectators.
The 2023 Gordon Research Seminar on Chloroplast Biotechnology will present novel research in all areas relevant to engineering chloroplasts to either improve existing functions or provide them with new ones. The technologies discussed will cover the entire range from subtle tweaks in plastid metabolism to complete redesign of the plastid genome, and will include all aspects of modifying organellar genomes, proteomes or metabolomes needed for applications in agriculture, industrial biotechnology or the pharmaceutical sector. Target products to be covered include, for example, biopharmaceuticals (vaccines and therapeutic proteins), industrial enzymes, green chemicals and next-generation biofuels. Chloroplasts are key organelles in the energy biology of plants and improving their photosynthetic efficiency (for example through gains in the transduction of light energy or carbon fixation) is a major goal of many research groups around the world. Recent progress in this research, particularly through the transfer of molecular solutions from algae and cyanobacteria, has been impressive. In parallel, the engineering of novel functions into chloroplasts to make use of their prodigious metabolic and protein synthesis capabilities is also at an exciting juncture. The genetic transformation of plastids is now routine in many plants and algae, so the focus is moving to synthetic biology solutions based on expression of multiple genes under sophisticated control circuits. Indeed, the relatively small and well-understood plastid genome is now a prime target for ambitious projects in several countries aimed at design and synthesis of novel genomes with enhanced traits. The basic science underpinning these advances (genome structure and replication, control of gene expression, protein synthesis and import, assembly of protein complexes, protein quality control and turnover, plastid metabolism, metabolite transport) will be covered where relevant to these biotechnological applications.
The 2023 Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Chloroplast Biotechnology is a 2-day meeting that will take place preceding the associated Gordon Research Conference (GRC). This meeting is an opportunity for graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and other scientists with similar level of experience to present and discuss cutting-edge research in the field in a relaxed and enthusiastic atmosphere. Approximately 10 speakers will be selected from abstracts. A keynote talk by a high profile scientist in the field will conclude the meeting.
