The GPZ workshop was organized together with the EMBO, German National Academy Leopoldina and supported by the DFG and IPK. The meeting brought together scientists from all over the world which are interested in molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying stability, variability and modification of plant genomes. The four sessions focused on Genetic and epigenetic influences on chromosome stability, Replication, cell cycle, DNA repair and somatic recombination, Meiotic processes and recombination, and Genome engineering, approaches and applications.
The recent progress in understanding and application of processes regarding genome biology in plants, in particular the exploding approaches of CRISPR/Cas technology, guaranteed the scientific excellence of the workshop. The 141 participants fairly represented the world-wide scientific community involved in the workshop topic. The 17 invited speakers, selected by the organizing committees, comprised the majority of leading scientists in the field. Two of them (H. Puchta and C. White) relinquished their slots to two young researchers each, for presenting their actual results. Two poster presentation (2 min each) and viewing sessions provided an additional platform for active contribution of 35 PhD students (25% of the participants) and of young postdocs/group leaders. A public lecture (J. Schiemann “Bio und grüne Gentechnik – geht das?”) and subsequent barbecue & beer at the IPK campus was organized after the poster session at the evening of 04.06.18. The workshop had 141 participants from academia and industry of 22 countries with a gender equality.
PD Dr. Andreas Houben, Gatersleben
