Asset 2 Conferences

PlantResearch17 presents a thrilling showcase of the forefront of plant research

21 June 2017

The sold out first edition of At the Forefront of Plant Research took place on June 15-16 in Ghent, Belgium.

Attendees from all over the world descended on Ghent to listen to 18 invited and 4 selected speakers in the field of Plant Research and look and discuss more than 100 posters showcasing cutting edge research.

While Joe Ecker and Detlef Weigel left almost no stone unturned in the Arabidopsis 1001 genomes project by exploring the genomic and epigenomic diversity in a global collection of Arabidopsis thaliana accessions, Julia Vorholt and Ruben Garrido-Oter used metagenomics approaches to gain insight in the functions and strategies of plant microbiota.

Astounding science empowered by genome editing was also listed high on the bill: talks by Zach Lippman, Stefanie Sprunck and others showcased the breadth and potential of this technology in plants.

OC member and scientific director of VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology Dirk Inze summarized it in his closing remarks that "now is the most exciting time to be in plant science!"

For more information see the Storify story of all the tweets about PlantResearch17 and see the photos on the VIB Facebook page

PlantResearch17 speakers