The 2017 Chloroplast Biotechnology Gordon Research Conference and Seminar meeting will bring together a growing community of scientists combining fundamental studies on chloroplast molecular biology with applications in agriculture, industrial biotechnology and healthcare. The topics discussed are comprehensive and address the major needs and questions necessary to realize the envisioned benefits of plastid biotechnology. The meeting will host graduate students, postdoctoral scientists and junior academics together with an international cadre of leading experts in the field. The emphasis on sharing previously unpublished information enables the cultivation of innovative approaches to address the most important challenges facing the field.
Plastid engineering is driven by the expectation that plastid transgene expression precludes transgene flow vial pollen, because the inheritance of the transgene is limited to maternal parent. The conference will be focused on topics such as: (1) expression of recombinant proteins for industrial and pharmaceutical applications; (2) engineering the plastid genome to improve photosynthetic efficiency and plant productivity; (3) engineering novel metabolic pathways and structures into chloroplasts; (4) engineering novel agronomic traits into chloroplasts for gene stacking and transgene containment.
