CRISPR: The technology born in Spain that is turning the industry upside down
Thursday, September 29th (9h30-11h30)
Room C
Dr. Francisco Mojica, from Alicante University
(Spain) performed the first experiments ever reported on CRISPR, evidencing
CRISPR-derived activity. In 2000, his research
group identified similar sequences in disparate microorganisms and recognized
them as constituents of a novel family of Short Regulatory Spaced
Repeats (SRSR). Afterwards, Dr. Mojica renamed
SRSR as CRISPR and, in 2005, his team reported that the CRISPR locus is part of
a unique, adaptive immune system. Since then, a long list of scientists has contributed to describe the mechanism of
CRISPR action. As a result of this effort, outstanding molecular biology tools have
been developed from CRISPR elements, leading to the CRISPR technology,
considered by many as the scienti
fic discovery of the century. This
unprecedented technology enables efficient, precise, feasible and affordable genetic
manipulation of almost any cell type and organism, from bacteria to humans. Moreover,
native CRISPR systems have been engineered to improve their performance in
genome editing and repurposed for a plethora of in vitro and in vivo applications,
such as transcriptional regulation, epigenetic modification or target labelling.
In this session, Dr. Mojica will introduce us to CRISPR and we will also have
the opportunity to learn how research institutions and the industry are using CRISPR-based tools to
make the next scientific breakthrough.
Moderator & Speaker:
Francisco JM Mojica: Department of Physiology, Genetics & Microbiology, UNIVERSITY OF ALICANTE (Spain). "CRISPR past, present and future"
Speakers:
Lluis Montoliu: CSIC Research Scientist, CIBERER-ISCIII and UAM, National Centre for Biotechnology in Madrid (Spain). “
Gene editing in animals with CRISPR-Cas tools".
Juan Carlos Ramírez: CSO / CTO, VIVEbioTECH (Spain). “
Delivering genome editing tools: from cells to market”
Nora Alonso: CEO, IDEN BIOTECHNOLOGY (Spain)