CRISPR as a Research Tool in Cancer and Regenerative Medicine: A Global Symposium

A two-day international symposium titled “CRISPR as a Research Tool in Cancer and Regenerative Medicine” recently took place at Karolinska Institutet, attracting researchers and industry professionals worldwide. The event, organized by Bernhard Schmierer, Head of the SciLifeLab CRISPR Functional Genomics unit and Fredrik Wermeling, KI, explored the potential of CRISPR technology in advancing research in cancer and regenerative medicine.

With 151 registered participants from 11 countries representing academia and industry, the symposium provided a platform for experts to exchange knowledge and ideas. The event featured 35 posters highlighting various research projects related to CRISPR technology. Notably, 11 posters showcased research supported by CRISPR Functional Genomics, underscoring the SciLifeLab unit’s significant impact in the field.

The symposium was generously supported by Cancerfonden, SciLifeLab and the PhenoTarget network. Synthego and IDT, leading companies in the field, served as the main sponsors, with Countagen AB, Parse BioSciences, BioNordika AB, and Singleron AB also providing support.

The event featured John Doench, Director of Research and Development in the Genetic Perturbation Platform at Broad MIT as keynote speaker. Neville Sanjana from the NY Genome Center, Jacob Corn and Randall Platt from ETH Zurich, Eric Shifrut from Tel Aviv University, Douglas Ross-Thriepland from the AstraZeneca Functional Genomics Centre in the UK, Tuuli Lappalainen from SciLifeLab and KTH, and Yumeng Mao from Uppsala University, presented their latest research, focusing on both massively parallel gene perturbation using CRISPR technology, and on precision gene editing.

The symposium was very well received:

• John Doench, Broad MIT: “Wonderful conference.”
• Verónica Rendo, UU: “Thank you for organizing an incredible symposium and for supporting our community of screeners!”
• Alexander Espinosa, KI: “It was great fun! Thank you for organizing an exceptional symposium.”
• Rory Whiteford, University of Manchester: “It was great to listen to all the insightful talks about how CRISPR-Cas gene editing technologies are revolutionising research in both academia and industry.”

“Building on the success of this year’s event, we hope to be able to attract funding for a new edition of this meeting in 2025,” says Fredrik Wermeling, group leader at Karolinska Institutet. Bernhard Schmierer, Head of CRISPR Functional Genomics, adds: “A conference series would put Sweden firmly on the CRISPR world map and promote the numerous research activities supported by CRISPR Functional Genomics and the Lund Stem Cell Center.”