Source: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS submitted to NRP
TRANSGENIC ANIMAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE XII
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1019910
Grant No.
2019-33522-29955
Cumulative Award Amt.
$25,000.00
Proposal No.
2019-01993
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 15, 2019
Project End Date
Aug 14, 2020
Grant Year
2019
Program Code
[HX]- Biotechnology Risk Assessment
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
410 MRAK HALL
DAVIS,CA 95616-8671
Performing Department
Animal Science
Non Technical Summary
This project will support the 12th Transgenic Animal Research Conference hosted by UC Davis. This conference brings together leading researchers from labs around the world working on the genetic engineering and gene editing of agriculturally-important animals including livestock, poultry and fish. The goal of the conference is to convey new knowledge, foster collaborations and move the field of applying genome modifications to domesticated food-animal species forward. The conference also provides an opportunity for interactions with regulators for better understanding and shaping of policy. The conference will be held August 11-15, 2019 at the Granlibakken Conference Center in Tahoe City, CA. The conference will consist of 25 invited oral presentations and two poster sessions. Topics of invited talks include technology, agricultural and biomedical applications, genetic containment and regulation. Speaker and poster abstracts will be published in the journal Transgenic Research. Two afternoons from noon to 4 p.m. and one evening will be free to foster small group interactions with the intent of bringing scientists and regulators together to discuss progress, problems and potential applications of gene biotechnologies as applied to animals. Funds are requested to support registration fees for three speakers (Rasgon, Tsai and Owen, $4,650), fifteen $1,000 grants (total of $15,000) to assist graduate students and post-doctoral students attending the conference, with the remaining funds ($5,350) being used to support administration of the conference. Overall, the conference will provide a venue for the sharing of scientific information on recent advancements in this field leading to outreach and the education of the public on topics around applying current state of the art biotechnologies for gene modification to benefit animal agriculture. The conference is aligned with the overall purpose of the BRAG Program in that is geared toward disseminating science-based information on genetically engineered animals in order to assist Federal regulatory agencies on making policy/decisions on the use of such animals in agricultural production systems.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
30339991080100%
Knowledge Area
303 - Genetic Improvement of Animals;

Subject Of Investigation
3999 - Animal research, general;

Field Of Science
1080 - Genetics;
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project is to host a three day international conference focused on genetic engineering and gene editing in livestock, poultry and fish. The main objective of the conference is to bring together scientists from academia, industry and government labs/agencies from around the world to present and discuss the latest research and developments in the science of using gene biotechnologies in agriculturally important species. The conference is designed to promote the exchange of ideas, foster interactions between participants and provide science-based information for governmental regulators and the general public.
Project Methods
Science-based knowledge will be delivered in the form of oral presentations and posters. There will be a total of 25 invited talks and two poster sessions by other conference participants over the duration of the conference. Eight of the invited talks are specifically applicable to the BRAG Program objectives including work on genetic engineering for population suppression (Session 1), transgene containment (Session 3), technologies around gene editing (Session 4) and regulatory issues (Session 6).Session 1Paul Thomas- University of Adelaide, AustraliaGene drive in miceCaitlin Cooper- CSIRO, AustraliaGene editing to control invasive speciesJason Rasgon- Penn State University, USAManipulating insect genomesSession 3Bjorn Oback- University of Auckland, New ZealandGenetically sterilized sheepBjoern Petersen- Institute of Farm Animal Genetics, GermanyGenetically sterilized pigsSession 4Shengdar Tsai- St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, USADefining off-target events of CRISPR/Cas9Joseph Owen- UC Davis, USACRISPR-mediated gene knock-inSession 6Alison Van Eenennaam- UC Davis, USARegulatory considerations and polled

Progress 08/15/19 to 08/14/20

Outputs
Target Audience:University, government and industry scientists working in the fields of genetic engineering and gene editing Federal regulators Livestock producers Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A total of 13 graduate students and 2 post-doctoral scholars attended the meeting and presented their work in both poster form and in a 3 minute oral poster pitch presentation during a plenary session. Each graduate student and post-doc received partial support ($1,000) in grant funds towards their registration fees to enable their participation by helping to offset the cost of the conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Abstracts from all oral and poster presentations as well as a meeting report will be published in the journal Transgenic Research to extend the reach of the conference. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A three day international conference focused on genetic engineering and gene editing in livestock, poultry and fish was held that brought together scientists from academia, industry and government labs/agencies and regulators from around the world to present and discuss the latest research and developments in the science of using gene biotechnologies in agriculturally important species. There were at total of 94 attendees from 9 different countries (US, Germany, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Kenya) including 49 from academic institutions, 28 from industry, 10 from government labs and 7 from regulatory agencies. The conference consisted of 24 plenary talks and 25 poster presentations. The talks were categorized into four main areas- technology development (9), agricultural applications (5), biomedical applications (5) and regulation (3) along with an opening talk to set the stage and a closing talk looking to the future. With respect to risk assessment, the presentations included topics such as transgene containment, assessment of off-target effects of CRISPR/Cas9 and regulatory issues associated with genetic engineering and gene editing in animals. The final program for the conference can be found here https://ces-apps.ucdavis.edu/confreg/?confid=1025.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Maga, E. A. 2020. Meeting Report: UC Davis Transgenic Animal Research Conference XII (TARC XII). Transgenic Research In Press
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Abstracts from the UC Davis Transgenic Animal Research Conference XII. Transgenic Research In Press