On March 25, 2022, the Second Genome Engineering and Therapy Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum was held online, co-hosted by the Synthetic Biology Institute of Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the the School of Synthetic Biology of CAS Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT University, tentative name) and organized by the Genome Engineering and Therapy Research Center of Shenzhen Synthetic Biology Institute. The forum focused on the frontier research of genetic engineering and therapy and explored the latest achievements and development direction of genetic therapy.
Renowned experts and scholars of this field at home and abroad were invited to the forum, including George Church, a professor of Genetics Department of Harvard University, a professor of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an academician of the American Academies of Sciences and Engineering, Liu Chenli, Vice President of SIAT and President of Shenzhen Synthetic Biology Institute, professor Huang Yanyi from Peking University, researcher Dai Junbiao from SIAT, researcher Li Dali from East China Normal University, assistant professor Cong Le from Stanford University, associate professor Chen Jia from ShanghaiTech University, professor Li Wei from the Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, professor Niu Yuyu from Kunming University of Science and Technology, associate professor Chang Xing from Westlake University, researcher Dai Lei from SIAT, assistant professor Xiang Yangfei from ShanghaiTech University, researcher Yi Xiao from SIAT, assistant researcher Chen Yuting from SIAT. Nearly 12,000 scholars with enthusiasm in genome engineering and therapy attended the forum online, witnessing this academic event together.
Figure | Guests delivering a report
Genome engineering and therapy is a new discipline at the forefront of science and technology and a new direction of life science research, which adheres to the principle of combining basic research and achievement transformation, breaks through the traditional research approach of life science, and integrates gene editing technology and cell therapy technology. The forum covered the latest achievements of genome engineering and therapy innovation from basic research to clinical research, reviewed the research status and explored the development trend of the field, providing a sharing and communication platform for experts, and offering advice and suggestions for promoting the development of genetic engineering and therapy innovation and entrepreneurship in China.
Figure | Liu Chenli, Vice President delivers an opening speech online
Figure | Academician George Church delivers a report online to share his insights
The experts shared their latest research progress and their thoughts on the application direction of genetic engineering development and medical treatment, and mapped a brilliant future of genomics. The experts delivered a wonderful report to introduce the development and application of novel genome editor; gene editing based on dCas9 for long-sequence genome knock-in; genetic regulation of RNA splicing in human diseases; development of mammalian genome engineering; genetic and ecological engineering of gut microbiome; new ways to understand human brain development and diseases; reprogramming of yeast genome; genetic engineering of non-human primates. They would take this forum as an opportunity to gather more experts and scholars from various disciplines and meet the challenges and opportunities in the interdisciplinary field of synthetic biology.
In the end, researcher Dai Junbiao delivered a closing speech and expressed gratitude to all the guests and attendees. The forum is the first one with the theme of “genome engineering and therapy” in China. Integrating synthetic biology engineering and therapy, the forum aims to find out the scientific law of gene editing and synthetic technology, guide the rational design of synthetic biological systems, thereby promoting the development of genetic engineering and therapy innovation in China. The forum has established a wide influence. In the future, it will be built into a high-end, large-scale and well-known permanent forum, and work with all partners from various fields to promote the rapid development of genome engineering and therapy research in China.
