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The CRISPR revolution from bacterial immunity to functional genomics

The French Society for Genetics (SFG) has chosen to devote its Annual Meeting to the fundamental contribution of CRISPR to the broad field of genetics, both for bacterial immunity and as a genome engineering technology.

The meeting starts with an exceptional outreach event, which is open to a wide audience, particularly non-scientists. A conference by Christian Siatka (Ecole de l’ADN, Nimes) will cover societal and ethical aspects that will be then further discussed during open round tables. The scientific program features prestigious speakers, including a keynote address by Emmanuelle Charpentier (Max Planck Institute for Infectious Diseases, Berlin), whose seminal work has been crucial to translating the bacterial CRIPSR system into a genome editing tool.

The meeting is organized into three distinct sessions.

• Session 1, entitled “Bacterial Immunity and Beyond” and led by Sylvain Moineau (Laval University, Canada), will cover basic research on bacterial immunity, which has to the initial discovery of the CRISPR system and continues to bring novel insights into its diversity and function.
• Session 2, entitled “Developmental and Physiological Genetics” and led by Norbert Perrimon (Harvard Medical School, Boston), will showcase recent discoveries that have been made using innovative CRISPR-based genetic tools, including controlled epigenetic modifications in Drosophila.
• Session 3, entitled “From Functional Genomics to Applications” and led by Fabien Nogué (INRA, Versailles), will notably report the perspectives offered by the CRISPR technology for generating new characteristics in species that have agronomic and economic importance.

We are looking forward to seeing many of you in Montpellier next November, for what promises to be an exciting scientific conference!

The organizing committee.