The Allied Genetics Conference

Genetics Society Of America, Rockville MD

Investigators

Abstract

The award will provide support for early career scientists to attend The Allied Genetics Conference (TAGC) on April 22-26, 2020 in the Washington D.C. metro area. The conference will bring together over 4000 US and international investigators to share scientific discoveries, technological advances and educational experiences that advance biological research. A major goal of TAGC is to reintegrate distinct communities of geneticists who focus on different model organisms (e.g., C. elegans, Drosophila, Xenopus, Zebrafish, etc.) through seminars, poster sessions, workshops and discussions that are organized by shared scientific themes. In addition, several career development and skills workshops targeted toward undergraduate-to-mid-career scientists will promote workforce development and diverse participation in STEM fields. Advances in genetics have opened up new avenues of discovery and yielded technological applications for decades. Now, revolutionary advances in the analysis of genome variation are providing new insights into complex traits; quantitative genetics promise progress on many challenges, including securing the world's food supply; new technologies offer insights into the effects of genetic variation in single cells; genome synthesis and engineering expand the variety of organisms that can be studied and harnessed for materials production. These are but a few of the valuable outcomes of multi-disciplinary research in the field of genetics. The conference will promote progress by facilitating discussions and fostering collaborations among the participants. This project is jointly funded by the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences - Genetic Mechanisms and Systems and Synthetic Biology Clusters, and by the Division of Environmental Biology - Evolutionary Processes Cluster. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.