Café Synthetique

Café Synthetique is the monthly meetup for the Cambridge synthetic and engineering biology community with informal talks, discussion and pub snacks. Speakers range from students and group leaders to industry professionals and entrepreneurs.

We are back on Monday 2 December, 6pm at Panton Arms featuring:

Dr Jenia Binenbaum
Talk Title: Beyond molecular scissors: Novel CRISPR-based methods for plant engineering.

CRISPR/Cas9 technology has revolutionized plant genome engineering, enabling precise and targeted gene editing. It has become an indispensable tool in basic research, biotechnology, and agriculture. In recent years, CRISPR has evolved beyond its role as a pair of "molecular scissors" for targeted gene knockouts into a versatile platform for genome engineering. Novel methods include multi-targeting systems that allow simultaneous edits across multiple loci, spatiotemporally controlled editing, and even gene activation.

Dr. Jenia Binenbaum first encountered CRISPR during his master's studies at Tel Aviv University, where he implemented the system to multi-target a family of nitrate transporters. He later pursued a PhD in the Eilon Shani lab, where he contributed to the development of Multi-Knock, a genome-scale CRISPR toolbox designed to overcome functional redundancy in plants. He is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow in the Harris lab at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.

Followed by a short presentation on lab automation from SPT LabTech.

It would be great to see the community coming together again with free aromi food available! Drinks available to purchase at the bar. We look forward to seeing you at the Panton Arms, Cambridge.

Places are limited to 40. Please sign up here with full name and affiliation.

For questions or queries please contact Vicky Reid at vr314@cam.ac.uk