Dear all,
We are thrilled to announce our upcoming workshop on Introduction to CRISPR for Ecology and Evolution Studies. This comprehensive program will provide you with both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience in genomic data analysis, using practical examples carefully selected from the latest scientific literature.
Dates: Online, October 9th-12th.
Course website: https://www.physalia-courses.org/courses-workshops/course53/
This workshop is designed to equip participants with the essential skills and understanding required to implement the CRISPR-Cas9 tool in their own projects, specifically within the fields of ecology and evolution. Throughout the workshop, we will focus on experiment design, method selection, and data analysis, ensuring you gain the expertise needed to confidently incorporate CRISPR techniques into your research.
The workshop features a combination of fundamental theoretical lessons and engaging hands-on sessions. The theoretical lessons will provide you with a strong foundation in the principles and applications of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing tool. In the hands-on sessions, you will work with practical examples, utilizing web-based tools, license-free software, and UNIX-based command line programs. All data used in the workshop is drawn from up-to-date scientific literature, ensuring its relevance and applicability to real-world scenarios.
Each day will include dedicated "Discussion and Q&A" sessions, allowing you to interact with the instructors and fine-tune your own projects. This personalized guidance will help you navigate specific challenges and optimize your experimental designs.
This workshop is ideal for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and technicians in the biological sciences who are eager to incorporate the CRISPR-Cas9 tool into their projects within the fields of ecology and evolution. A basic background in biology, particularly in genetics and molecular biology, is required. Participants are expected to have a solid understanding of the central role of nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) in evolution. Additionally, familiarity with bioinformatics tools such as BLAST homology-based search and multiple sequence alignment is beneficial, as most hands-on sessions involve sequencing data analysis. However, prior experience with command-line based programs is not mandatory, as an introduction to UNIX commands will be provided.
By the end of this workshop, you will have achieved the following learning outcomes:
- Understanding the fundamentals of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing tool
- Designing reliable CRISPR-based gene knockout experiments
- Annotating genes of interest in non-model species
- Designing and evaluating species-specific single guide RNAs (sgRNAs)
- Efficiently synthesizing sgRNA and assembling optimized Cas9/sgRNA mixes
- Screening for G0 CRISPR mutants using a fast genotyping method
- Designing genotyping strategies tailored to project needs
- Analyzing Cas9-induced genomic variants using Sanger and Illumina deep sequencing
