Overview

Welcome to the 6^th International Conference on Plant Genetics and Genomics: Germplasm to Genome Engineering 2

Ever since the domestication of plants, ~ 10,000 years ago, the use of plant genetic resources in crop breeding programs have led to the development of crop varieties that have contributed globally towards increased food production. Hence, plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are fundamental to food production, food security, and social and economic development. The importance of plant genetic resources has increased significantly in recent years with the changing global scenario and in the wake of the sustainability of agricultural production in the climate change regime. Climate change and growing food insecurity are major challenges to the world’s agricultural systems.

While the application of conventional breeding methodologies continues to contribute to the yield improvements in major crops since the middle of the 20th century, the future of food security will increasingly rely upon a more extensive utilization of plant genetic resources through modern genomics and biotechnology tools. The remarkable progress in plant genomics and bioinformatics offers enough opportunities for mining germplasm collections, building genotype-phenotype associations, elucidating gene functions, and identifying superior alleles for use in the crop improvement programs. Currently, genomics and genome engineering approaches are leading the way for a new revolution. Integration of conventional breeding techniques with genetic and genome engineering via the CRISPR-Cas system is the way forward to develop high yielding, climate-smart crops.

CRISPR mediated gene and genome editing have huge potential for revolutionizing modern agriculture. Genome engineering has enormous translational applications, e.g. developing designer crops well adapted to target environments. In addition, CRISPR is being heavily used for advancing our fundamental understanding of plant biology. Great hopes are pinned on the precision and speed of Gene Editing particularly on potential of CRISPR to complement or substitute GM trait with non-GM trait and associated breeding tools. This conference will focus on promoting the use of plant genetic and genomics resources for crop improvement and discuss the scientific advancements in crop genome editing, socio-economic narratives, ethics and regulations in global agriculture. Special emphasis will be given on addressing challenges associated with plant gene editing, e.g. what, how and what not to edit, off-target effects, major bottlenecks in efficiency improvement, delivery systems and so on.

The two-day event will provide a unique opportunity to young professional, scholars and the leading opinion makers from academia and industry to discuss the scientific advances with a viewpoint to integrate crop germplasm with new breeding strategies including genome engineering for combining increased productivity with climate resilience and nutrition for feeding the world in the 21st century.

This event is the online version of the event Germplasm to Genome Engineering organized in NASC Complex, PUSA, New Delhi on October 17-18, 2019.

Best Poster Award

We are inviting proposals from scientists, faculty, and research scholars to present their research work at the conference and get critical comments, insights and new directions for their research. The best poster presentation by a Pre-Doctoral Research Scholar will be awarded Rs 1100/-during the closing ceremony of the conference. Faculty (Registered Indian Delegate) presenting the paper will not be eligible for the award but will be allowed to present.

Looking forward to welcoming you online……

Prof KC Bansal