Conference Description
The Chloroplast Biotechnology GRC is a premier, international scientific conference focused on advancing the frontiers of science through the presentation of cutting-edge and unpublished research, prioritizing time for discussion after each talk and fostering informal interactions among scientists of all career stages. The conference program includes a diverse range of speakers and discussion leaders from institutions and organizations worldwide, concentrating on the latest developments in the field. The conference is five days long and held in a remote location to increase the sense of camaraderie and create scientific communities, with lasting collaborations and friendships. In addition to premier talks, the conference has designated time for poster sessions from individuals of all career stages, and afternoon free time and communal meals allow for informal networking opportunities with leaders in the field.
The 2025 Gordon Research Conference on Chloroplast Biotechnology will present cutting-edge research in all areas relevant to engineering chloroplasts to either improve existing functions or introduce new functions. The meeting will bring together a growing community of scientists who study and combine fundamental studies on chloroplast biology with the development of novel transgenic tools and synthetic biology to engineer organellar genomes in plants and applications. Breakthrough results in plastid biology will be highlighted. Genetic transformation of plastids is now possible in many plants and algae, and consequently synthetic biology solutions based on expression of multiple genes under sophisticated control circuits are becoming a reality. The plastid genome is now a prime target for ambitious projects aimed at design and synthesis of novel genomes with enhanced traits. The availability of protein-only genome editing reagents based on transcription activator-like effectors is enabling base editing of chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes. Such novel DNA base editing methods for organellar genomes are a real breakthrough and will be discussed. Chloroplasts are key organelles in the energy biology of plants; strategies to improve carbon fixation by reengineering of the photosynthetic machinery and carbon concentrating mechanisms, as well as the design of novel metabolic pathways that harness photosynthetic electron transfer will be explored. Engineering of novel functions into chloroplasts to make use of their extensive metabolic and protein synthesis capabilities is also at an exciting juncture and will be discussed. The basic science underpinning these advances (including 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 especially where relevant to these biotechnological applications. This conference is designed to attract attendees from both academia and the biotechnology industry and is intended to catalyze discussion and collaboration between researchers in the public and private sectors.
The topics, speakers, and discussion leaders for the conference sessions are displayed below. The conference chair is currently developing their detailed program, which will include the complete meeting schedule, as well as the talk titles for all speakers. The detailed program will be available by November 30, 2024. Please check back for updates.
Organellar Genome Diversity and Evolution
Discussion Leaders
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David Smith (The University of Western Ontario, Canada)
Speakers
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Jonathan Zehr (University of California, Santa Cruz, United States)
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Steven Kelly (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
Engineering Organellar Genomes
Discussion Leaders
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Scott Lenaghan (University of Tennessee, United States)
Speakers
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Caxio Gao (Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, China)
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Bogumil Karas (Western University, Canada)
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Pal Maliga (Rutgers University, United States)
Controlling Transcription and RNA Metabolism
Discussion Leaders
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Alice Barkan (University of Oregon, United States)
Speakers
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Julia Legen (Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany)
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Ian Small (University of Western Australia, Australia)
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Thomas Pfannschmidt (Plant Physiology / Leibniz University Hannover, Germany)
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Michael Webster (John Innes Centre, United Kingdom)
Controlling Organellar Translation and Protein Stability
Discussion Leaders
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Carmela Giglione (Institute of Integrative Biology of the Cell, France)
Speakers
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Felix Willmund (University of Marburg, Germany)
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Malihe Mirzaee (Waksman Institute of Microbiology / Rutgers University, United States)
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Guo-Zhang Wu (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China)
Engineering Chloroplasts for Plant Resilience and Productivity
Discussion Leaders
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Krishna Niyogi (Howard Hughes Medical Institute / University of California, Berkeley, United States)
Speakers
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Benedict Long (University of Newcastle, Australia)
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Maureen Hanson (Cornell University, United States)
Engineering of Carbon Fixation
Discussion Leaders
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Spencer Whitney (Australian National University, Australia)
Speakers
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Laura Gunn (Cornell University, United States)
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Yoshihisa Hirakawa (University of Tsukuba, Japan)
Specialized Plastids and Engineered Functions
Discussion Leaders
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Thomas Sharkey (Michigan State University, United States)
Speakers
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Thilo Rühle (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany)
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Jiang Zhang (Agricultural Genomic Institute at Shenzhen / Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, China)
Plastid Metabolic Engineering and Cellular Integration
Discussion Leaders
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Ralph Bock (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany)
Speakers
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Robert Larkin (Huazhong Agricultural University, China)
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Ute Armbruster (University of Düsseldorf, Germany)
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Nunzia Scotti (Institute of Biosciences and BioResources, Italy)
SynBio of Photosynthetic Organisms and Artificial Photosynthesis
Discussion Leaders
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Luke Mackinder (University of York, United Kingdom)
Speakers
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Alison Smith (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)
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Alistair McCormick (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
The GRC Power Hourâ„¢
Organizers
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Alison Smith (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)