CRISPR and Beyond: Perturbations at Scale to Understand Genomes

The rapid development of CRISPR/Cas-based technologies makes it possible to modulate genomes with relative ease. These tools are transforming our understanding of how genetic variations influence phenotypes, helping to address long-standing questions in biology that have profound implications for human health. This research is laying the groundwork for precision medicine, with promising applications in the treatment of heritable diseases and cancer.

Our sixth conference will provide a forum for biomedical researchers from academia and industry working on high throughput screening, genome engineering, and variant effect interpretation to discuss perturbations at scale to understand genomes.

This year’s meeting will spotlight recent advancements driven by emerging technologies and models, including computational approaches and DNA design for specific functions. Sessions will cover cutting-edge developments in CRISPR screens, precision genome editing, and clinical applications such as therapeutic editing and disease modelling.

The programme will also include oral presentations selected from abstracts, posters, poster pitch talks and networking sessions for a highly interactive meeting.

The conference will start at approximately 12.50 on Wednesday, 2 April and close at approximately 13.00 on Friday 4 April 2024. All times are in BST.

Discussions will focus on a variety of exciting topics, including:

• Clinical implications and new delivery systems
• Precision editing
• Computational data integration and modeling
• CRISPR screens
• Emerging technologies
• Genomic perturbations and variant effects

A draft programme will be available soon.

Scientific programme committee

Britt Adamson
Princeton University, USA

Sir Stephen Jackson
University of Cambridge, UK

Martin Kircher
Berlin Institute of Health, Germany

Alexis Komor
University of California, San Diego, USA

Keynote speaker

Thijn Brummelkamp
Netherlands Cancer Institute

Confirmed Speakers

Erika Alden-DeBenedictis
Francis Crick Institute, UK

Sangsu Bae
Seoul National University, South Korea

Teresa Davoli
New York University, USA

Silvia Domcke
University of Zurich, Switzerland

Daniel Durocher
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Canada

Danwei Huangfu
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA

Kristin Knouse
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Uwe Ohler
Max-Delbruck-Center, Germany

Leopold Parts
Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK

Waseem Qasim
Imperial College London, UK

Gerald Schwank
University of Zurich, Switzerland

Weixin Tang
University of Chicago, USA

Organisers – Wellcome Connecting Science

Lucy Criddle, Conference & events organiser
Nagehan Ramazanoğlu Bahadır, Programme developer

Registration deadline: 4 March (in-person) | 25 March 2025 (virtual)

The in-person registration fee includes:

• Full access to scientific programme: oral and poster presentations, and networking on campus
• Access to the online conference portal to network with online participants
• Meals (lunch and dinner) and refreshments during the conference. Breakfast will be provided for delegates who have booked onsite accommodation.
• Recordings of the live-stream sessions, which will be available ‘on-demand’ for four weeks after the event ends

Virtual registration fee includes:

• Access to the virtual event portal (Log in details will be emailed a few days before the event starts)
• Live-stream sessions, including posters and online networking channels
• Recordings of the live-stream sessions, available ‘on-demand’ for four weeks after the event ends.

* To promote more inclusive scientific discussions with international colleagues at our conferences, virtual delegates based in Lower and Middle-Income Countries can register for free (see list of countries here).

If you are an editor or journalist, please contact the conference organiser for more information about the discounted fee or media pass.

Accommodation
Booked accommodation is for the nights of 2 and 3 April 2025.
Please note: there is limited onsite accommodation and this will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis; therefore, early registration is recommended.

If you wish to book campus accommodation either side of the conference dates, please contact the Hinxton Hall Conference Centre directly.

Accommodation services phishing scam – please be vigilant. More information.

Travel visas
Citizens of many countries can travel to the UK to attend a course or conference without needing a visa. Please check the UK government website for visitor information: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor.

Confirmed attendees requiring a letter to support a visa application should contact the event organiser.

Bursaries

Bursary deadline: 14 January 2024

Wellcome Connecting Science offers registration bursaries (usually up to 50% of the registration fee) to those who would benefit from attending the conference but face financial barriers to attending events. Priority is usually given to PhD students, applicants from lower and middle income countries, or those from underrepresented / minoritised groups. Other early career researchers will be considered if funds allow. We strongly encourage applicants to submit an abstract on their research results or ongoing project before the bursary deadline. Final edits can be made to the abstract up until the abstract deadline. Bursary applications without abstracts will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

To apply for funding support, please register and then select that you want to apply for a bursary. This will direct you to the online application form. Please be prepared to explain why you need support and how you will benefit from attending the conference. Once you have submitted the application form, you will be emailed an abstract portal link. Please use this to submit an abstract before bursary deadline.

Additional funding opportunities

Visit our support page for information on financial support, including carer grants to help delegates with the costs of caring for children or dependent family members while attending a course or a conference.

Abstract deadline: 4 February 2025

We welcome abstracts from all areas relevant to the main themes of the meeting, for both oral and poster presentations. Several oral presentations will be chosen from the abstracts submitted. Presenters of oral presentations are expected to be onsite for the duration of the conference, whereas those presenting posters can do so in person or virtually.

To submit an abstract, you must first register for the conference. Once your registration is completed, you will be emailed a link to submit to the abstract submission portal. If you wish to edit your abstract following submission, please use the link in the abstract acknowledgement email.

All abstracts must be submitted and, if desired, edited by the deadline. The scientific programme committee will then assess your abstract and you will be notified about 2 weeks after the deadline whether you have been selected to present an oral or poster presentation. If you require acknowledgment that your abstract has been accepted earlier than this, please contact the event organiser.

Poster boards onsite will accommodate 118 cm high by 84 cm wide (A0-portrait) of printed material. Accepted abstracts will appear in the conference programme book; poster board numbers will be allocated at the conference.

All those accepted for a poster presentation will also have the opportunity present a ~1 min ‘poster pitch’ summarising their work.

If you are interested in supporting this meeting, please contact us.

For more information about the benefits of having a presence at this meeting, see our sponsorship page .

Feedback from our 2023 meeting:

“The size of this meeting really facilitated interactions with members of the community I would not have spoken too at other conferences. It gave me an opportunity to meet with and get to know senior members of the scientific community I look forward to interacting with in the future!”

“I feel the timetabled sessions were well organised and timed with engaging topics and room for discussion. Lots of time was provided throughout the day for networking and sessions were not too overloaded.”

“The conference was absolutely exceptional from start to finish!”

“I highly recommend this conference to my colleagues every year.”