Joint with: Genetic Engineering for a Sustainable Future
Future of Agriculture for Sustainability

Jan 20–23, 2025 | Keystone Resort, Keystone, CO, United States
Scientific Organizers: Christopher Voigt

  In Person
  On Demand

Jan 20–23, 2025 | Keystone Resort, Keystone, CO, United States
Scientific Organizers: Christopher Voigt

Supported by the  Directors' Fund

***Meeting program subject to change.

Available Formats:   = In Person     = On Demand
Monday, January 20, 2025
Arrival and Registration  
4:00–8:00 PM
 Longs Peak Foyer
Welcome Mixer  
6:00–8:00 PM
 Longs Peak Foyer
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Breakfast  
7:00–8:00 AM
 Longs Peak
Welcome and Keynote Address (Joint)  
8:00–9:30 AM
 Grays Peak 1-2
* Jennifer Charlotte Mortimer, University of Adelaide
* Christopher Voigt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Elizabeth Sattely, Stanford University
Engineering Plant Chemistry for Plant and Human Health
Anne E. Osbourn, John Innes Centre
Engineering Synthetic Pathways Towards Natural Products
Coffee Break  
9:30–9:50 AM
 Longs Peak Foyer
Engineering Microbial-Plant Interactions (Joint)  
9:50–11:15 AM
 Grays Peak 1-2
Jean-Michel Ane, University of Wisconsin - Madison
The Complex Communications Between Plants and their Microbiota
Christopher Voigt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Tracking Engineered Microbiomes from Space and Over Decades
* Gozde S Demirer, Caltech
Sustainable Agriculture Through Persistent Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria
Poster Setup  
11:15–1:00 PM
 Longs Peak
On Own for Lunch  
11:15–2:30 PM
Poster Viewing  
1:00–10:00 PM
 Longs Peak
Symposia Spotlight 1: Late-breaking research presentations selected from abstract submissions  
3:00–4:30 PM
 Grays Peak 1-2
Maria Florencia Ercoli, University of California Davis
Engineering Rice Root System Architecture and Exudate Composition to Optimize Rhizosphere Interactions.
* Conor J McClune, Stanford University
Multiplexed Perturbation of Yew Reveals Cryptic Proteins that Enable a Total Biosynthesis of Taxol Precursors
Motoaki Seki, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science
Development of EGAO (Ethanol-Based Global Agricultural Optimization) Technology and its Application for the Sustainable Agriculture
Joshua S Clem, University of Maryland, College Park
A Novel Type I-F CRISPR System Confers Kilobase-scale Genomic Deletions at GC-rich PAMs in Plants
Jonathan Conway, Princeton University
Engineering Auxin-Mediated Plant-Microbe Interactions for Sustainable Agriculture
Coffee Available  
4:30–5:00 PM
 Longs Peak Foyer
Preparing for Climate Change with Plant Engineering (Joint)  
5:00–7:00 PM
 Grays Peak 1-2
Pamela C Ronald, University of California, Davis
Engineering Rice for Climate Change
* Jenn Brophy, Stanford University
Genetic Circuits to Control Root Development
June I. Medford, Colorado State University
Towards Plants to Address Food, Water and Climate Needs
* Arjun Khakhar, Colorado State University
Using Synthetic Biology to Open New Avenues for Sustainable Agriculture
Subah Soni, University of California, Davis
Short Talk: Engineering Rice Root Exudation for Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Social Hour with Lite Bites  
7:00–8:00 PM
 Longs Peak
Poster Session 1  
7:30–10:00 PM
 Longs Peak
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Breakfast  
7:00–8:00 AM
 Longs Peak
Defeating Haber-Bosch; Low Energy Routes to Fertilizer (Joint)  
8:00–11:00 AM
 Grays Peak 1-2
* Henrik V Scheller, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Session Chair
Giles E.D. Oldroyd, University of Cambridge
Achieving Sustainable Productivity in Agriculture Through Beneficial Microbial Associations
Min-Hyung Ryu, Pivot Bio
Deployment of Bacteria that Deliver Fixed Nitrogen to Cereals
Cathie Martin, John Innes Centre
Healthy Plants; Healthy People - Fortifying Vitamins and Phytonutrients in Tomato
Haven Baker, Pairwise Plants
Tools for Plant Engineering to Accelerate Plant-based Production Systems
Solène LY Moulin, Stanford School of Medicine
Short Talk: Cell Evolution of Nitrogen-Fixing Endosymbioses: A Blueprint for Synthetic Self-Fertilizing Plants
Coffee Break  
9:00–9:20 AM
 Longs Peak Foyer
Poster Setup  
11:00–1:00 PM
 Longs Peak
On Own for Lunch  
11:00–1:30 PM
Poster Viewing  
1:00–10:00 PM
 Longs Peak
Career Roundtable (Joint)  
3:30–4:30 PM
 Grays Peak 1-2
Jenn Brophy, Stanford University
Assistant Professor
Matt DiLeo, Elo Life Systems
Vice President, R&D
Pablo D. Rabinowicz, U.S. Department of Energy
Program Manager, Biological and Environmental Research
Coffee Available  
4:30–5:00 PM
 Longs Peak Foyer
Thinking Plants, Programmed to Respond to their Environment  
5:00–7:00 PM
 Grays Peak 1-2
Mauricio S Antunes, University of North Texas
Rewiring Plant Metabolism with Information Processing Circuits
* Neal Stewart, University of Tennessee
Rapid in vivo Analysis of Synthetic Promoters for Plant Pathogen Phytosensing
Sean Cutler, University of California, Riverside
Reprogramming ABA Receptors for New Plant Functions
Alexandra M Shigenaga, University of California, Davis
Short Talk: Elucidating the Role of An Evolutionarily Conserved Peptide Signaling Pathway in Growth and Defense Processes
Sophia A Tomatz, University of California, Berkeley
Short Talk: Engineering Lipid-Based Nanoparticles to Deliver Small Rnas to Plant Systems
Social Hour with Lite Bites  
7:00–8:00 PM
 Longs Peak
Poster Session 2  
7:30–10:00 PM
 Longs Peak
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Breakfast  
7:00–8:00 AM
 Longs Peak
Massively Reengineered Plant Genetics  
8:00–11:00 AM
 Grays Peak 1-2
* Caixia Gao, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Targeted Genome Engineering Tools and their Applications in Crop Breeding
Daniel F Voytas, University of Minnesota
Plant gene editing at scale using non-transgenic approaches
Ralph Bock, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
Engineering Plant Organellar Genomes
Martin Jonikas, Princeton University
Structure, Biogenesis, and Engineering of the Pyrenoid
Brenden Barco, Syngenta Crop Protection
Short Talk: Advances in LbCas12a-mediated Genome Editing in High Value Crops
Abraham Steinberger, University of Minnesota
Short Talk: Towards Heritable, Tissue Culture-Free Gene Editing of Barley and Wheat Using a Barley Stripe Mosaic Virus Vector
Coffee Break  
9:00–9:20 AM
 Longs Peak Foyer
On Own for Lunch  
11:00–2:30 PM
Symposia Spotlight 2: Late-breaking research presentations selected from abstract submissions  
3:00–4:15 PM
 Grays Peak 1-2
Sakiko Okumoto, Texas A&M AgriLIfe research
Reducing N2O Emission Through Biological Nitrification Inhibition in Sorghum
* Mathew G Lewsey, La Trobe University
Establishment of Single-Cell Transcriptional States During Seed Germination
Sangeetha Ramesh, University of California Davis
Understanding Bacterial Immunogenic Peptide Features That Facilitate Host Recognition During Rice-Xoo Interactions
Tahmina Islam, University of Dhaka
Development of Low Erucic Acid Producing Local Mustard Variety (Brassica Rapa L.) Through Genome Editing
Coffee Available  
4:30–5:00 PM
 Longs Peak Foyer
Advanced Insect Control  
5:00–6:30 PM
 Grays Peak 1-2
* Jeffrey E Barrick, The University of Texas at Austin
Protecting Bees Through Engineering Their Microbiome
Pedro Coelho, Provivi Inc.
Metabolic Engineering & Chemical Synthesis of Pheromones for Mating Disruption of Key Row Crop Pests
Max Scott, North Carolina State University
Genetic biocontrol of a global invasive fruit fly
Closing Keynote Address  
6:30–7:15 PM
 Grays Peak 1-2
* Christopher Voigt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Session Chair
Mary A. Gehring, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Engineering Plant Reproduction
Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers)  
7:15–7:30 PM
 Grays Peak 1-2
Social Hour with Lite Bites  
7:30–8:30 PM
 Longs Peak
Entertainment  
8:00–9:00 PM
 Grays Peak 1-2
Cash Bar  
8:00–9:00 PM
 Longs Peak
Friday, January 24, 2025
Departure  
8:00–8:00 AM

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