Progress 09/01/24 to 08/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience: Since its establishment in 1946, the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB) has been committed to fostering the exchange of knowledge of in vitro biology of cells, tissues, and organs from both plants and animals (including humans). The membership of this professional society includes many of the leaders and pioneers of tissue culture and in vitro biology. Participants in the 2025 In Vitro Biology Meeting were representative of over 22 countries including the USA and featured scientists working in academia, government, and industry; as well as students and postdoctoral fellows whose research bridges all aspects of in vitro biology and biotechnology for the benefit of plant, human, and animal subjects. In an ongoing effort to enhance accessibility, SIVB continued to offer much of the meeting's content in a hybrid online format, enabling scientists who faced financial or travel limitations to participate in the scientific events. SIVB firmly believes that today's students are the future of in vitro biology, and to support this belief the Society actively encourages the continued growth of emerging researchers and scientists. This commitment was reflected in the Society's outreach efforts, which included offering free registration to students worldwide for the World Congress and integrating student meetings and workshops into the scientific program. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This BRAG grant helped allow us to provide free registration to students and low registration fees to post-doctoral fellows and to award multiple student travel grants, attracting 85 undergraduate and graduate students and 42 post-doctoral researchers to attend the 2025 In Vitro Biology Meeting.We also had ten student meetings and workshops integrated into the scientific program and organized student and post-doctoral oral presentation competitions in both plant and animal sections as well as student poster presentation sessions and other networking opportunities. These activities not only provided excellent opportunities for the students and emerging researchers and scientists to be exposed to the most updated research progress in In Vitro Biology and Biotechnology but also allowed them to learn and interact with their peers and the experts in the field, which is greatly beneficial to their professional growth and development. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A dedicated issue of the Journal, In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology was released to publish all abstracts, posters and presentations of the 2025 In Vitro Biology Meeting. All abstracts, posters and many presentations were also made available through the SIVB website and through the event website and mobile application.Further, recordings of the sponsored sessions were made available first to registered attendees and later will be released to the public through our YouTube channel. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The overall goal of the 2025 Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB) Meeting partially funded by this USDA BRAG grant is to bring attendees from academia, industry, and government together to foster communication and research, to advance the science of biotechnology as applied to both plants and animals and to promote interactions with and education of governmental regulators and the public. We have successfully achieved this overall goal set for the 2025 In Vitro Biology meeting. Participants in this meeting were representatives from over 22 countries including the USA and featured scientists working in academia, government, and industry; as well as students and postdoctoral fellows whose research bridges all aspects of in vitro biology and biotechnology for the benefit of plant, human, and animal subjects. In addition, we have also offered much of the meeting's content in a hybrid online format to enhance accessibility, enabling scientists who faced financial or travel limitations to participate in the scientific events. Free registration to students worldwide and the inclusion of integrating student meetings and workshops into the scientific program further encourages the continued growth of emerging researchers and scientists. More specifically, for the proposed objective #1 - present and discuss innovative approaches for plant and animal transformation and transformation processes optimization, two workshops and seven additional symposia and lighting talks have been dedicated to this proposed objective, including "Optimizing Plant Tissue Culture Media Formulation: Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions", "The Culture Club: Unraveling the Complexities of Media Formulations", "Opportunities and Challenges in Bioenergy Crop Transformation", "Innovations in Plant Genome Editing and Transformation Technologies", "Emerging Technologies in Plant Genetic Modification and Trait Development", "Molecular Mechanisms for Genotype-Independent Plant Regeneration and Gene Editing", "Molecular Tools and Biotechnological Strategies for Plant Improvement", "From Cells to Crops: Harnessing Direct DNA Delivery and Nanotechnology, Protoplasts, and Transgene Free Genome Editing for Plant Enhancement", and "Tools and Technologies for Transformation". For the proposed objective #2 - Plant and animal genome engineering including model, non-model and polyploid species, ten symposia and lighting talks have been dedicated to this proposed objective, including "The Power of New Breeding Technologies (NBT) in Trait Discovery for Regenerative Agriculture", "Innovations in Plant Genome Editing and Transformation Technologies", "Emerging Technologies in Plant Genetic Modification and Trait Development", "Molecular Mechanisms for Genotype-Independent Plant Regeneration and Gene Editing", "Genome Editing in Plant Biotech Applications", "Novel Plant Biotechnology Tools", "Reshaping African Research Opportunities for Genome Editing Through Local Scientific Leadership And Investments", "Molecular Tools and Biotechnological Strategies for Plant Improvement", "Optimizing Plant Biotechnology: From Gene Editing to AI-Driven Innovation" and "From Cells To Crops: Harnessing Direct DNA Delivery and Nanotechnology, Protoplasts, and Transgene Free Genome Editing for Plant Enhancement." For the proposed objective #3 - Assessment and mitigation of environmental and human health risks associated with various genetic engineering technologies, especially gene editing, and future regulatory pathways, we have organized a joint workshop entitled, "The Role of Regulations on the Development of and Stewardship of Transgenic and Edited Plants and Animals - Panel Discussion," bringing a panel of four experts in the field of plant and animal biotechnology from academia, industry, and government regulatory agencies to discuss the future direction of plant and animal biotechnology. In addition, a plenary symposium "Biotechnology Approaches for Animal and Crop Improvement and Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Organisms" was organized to bring three experts to present and discuss recent research advances in biotechnology risk assessment, gene containment, and risk mitigation strategy development, in both plants and animals.

Publications

• Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2025 Citation: In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology - Animal, Volume 60, Issue Proceedings, Fall 2025
• Type: Websites Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2025 Citation: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOWndK02oDBzCEF11BBWYJA Videos from the sessions supported by this grant will be placed online through this YouTube channel later this year or in early 2026