In this talk, Dr Qi will first provide a general overview of the landscape of the cutting-edge CRISPR genome editing tools, including CRISPR-Cas9, CRISPR-Cas12a, CRISPR-Cas12b, C-to-T base editors, A-to-G base editors, and prime editors. Then, he will present a few case studies on the application of these tools different plant species, including rice, maize, wheat, carrot, tomato, and poplar. Next, he will introduce highly efficient multiplexed genome editing systems based on CRISPR-Cas9 and Cas12a. Their powerful applications will be showcased in rice, such as simultaneous editing of multiple crop traits, targeted protein evolution for herbicide resistance, and creation of quantitative traits by editing cis-regulatory elements. Finally, he will talk about an exciting gene activation technology, CRISPR-Act3.0, and its use for accelerating crop breeding and metabolic engineering. Collectively, these CRISPR technologies will greatly aid the development of high-yield, nutritious and resilient crops to feed the growing population worldwide.
The target audience includes international scholars, researchers, agricultural industry as well as the general public.
Speaker: Dr. Yiping Qi, Associate Professor at University of Maryland, College Park
Host: Prof Hon Ming Lam, Professor, School of Life Sciences, and Director of SKLA, AoE and SeedTEC, CUHK
Language: English
Organisers:
– Centre for Soybean Research (CSR), State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (SKLA), The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
– RGC-AoE Center for Genomic Studies on Plant-Environment Interaction for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security (AoE), CUHK
– Hong Kong Seed Technology and Education Center (SeedTEC), CUHK
Acknowledgement: Lo Kwee-Seong Foundation
Co-Organizer :
U.S. Agricultural Trade Office, Hong Kong