About the Event

Program

Occurring just once every five years, the International Congress of Genetics is a landmark event. For the Genetics community, it's our Olympics! Accordingly, this Congress will have a scientific program of unsurpassed quality and will have a large creative engagement for the public. This Congress will mark the 50 years from the beginnings of the gene manipulation, starting with the recombinant DNA revolution, culminating in vivo gene editing.

Plenary Addresses: There will be nine addresses that will be given to the assembled Congress delegates. Each will be given by a global leader in their respective field. One of these will be given by the 2023 recipient(s) of the prestigious Gruber Prize in Genetics. Beyond the extraordinary honour, the prize comes with an award of $500,000 (USD).

Symposia: The Congress will have six broad themes covering the breadth of Genetics and Genomics in humans, animals, plants, fungi and microbes. Each of the broad themes will have nine symposia that will cover specific aspects of the theme. A list of the symposia topics can be found below. There will be two invited talks in each symposium with up to four other speakers selected based on submitted abstracts

Poster Presentations are a vital part of the Congress. Poster sessions will be linked to the themes and symposia. There will be a generous amount of time set aside for poster presentation and viewing. The posters will be displayed in the Exhibition space where delegates will gather for morning and afternoon teas and lunch. Posters will also be viewable via the Congress app.

THEME 1: GENETICS AND HUMAN HEALTH
1. Identifying functional target genes at GWAS loci (Submitted proposal)
2. Ethical, legal and social issues in genomic medicine
3. Disease gene identification and functional genomics using animal models
4. Pharmacogenomics and genomics in drug discovery and development (Submitted proposal)
5. Genetics of complex disease and quantitative traits
6. Rare disease genetics and biology
7. Genomic therapies and precision medicine
8. Counselling, communication and consent in human genetics contexts across the lifetime (Submitted proposal)

THEME 2: GENOMICS AND GENOMIC TECHNOLOGIES
1. Genomics-driven healthcare
2. Infectious diseases, viral genomics and databanks
3. Emerging applications in ‘omics technologies - filling the gaps
4. Bioinformatics and computational biology – an essential technology
5. Accelerating genomics
6. Equity and Diversity in the application of human genomics
7. Cell-free DNA technologies: challenges and opportunities
8. Tandem-repeat genomics informing polygenic human disorders and traits (Submitted proposal)
9. Indigenous genomics in the precision medicine era

THEME 3: MOLECULAR, CELLULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL GENETICS
1. Advanced imaging in cellular and developmental genetics
2. Cell Signalling and Regeneration
3. Gene regulation and RNA biology
4. Epigenetic mechanisms and chromatin biology
5. Atlases for cell and developmental biology
6. Cell and organoid models for human disease mechanisms
7. New experimental model organisms for genetics research
8. Neurogenetics of behaviour
9. Genetics and biology of ageing (Submitted proposal)

THEME 4: AGRICULTURAL AND PLANT GENETICS
1. Agricultural and horticultural genetics
2. Plant ecological and conservation genetics
3. Plant cell and developmental biology
4. Plant response to environmental change
5. Genetics and genomics of plant evolution
6. Plant biotechnology and genome editing
7. Plant interactions with other organisms
8. Plant breeding and food security
9. From genebanks to fields: leveraging genomics innovations for characterising genetic diversity

THEME 5: GENETICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
1. Environmental genomics
2. Population genetics and genomics
3. Conservation genetics
4. The genetics of local adaptation
5. Invasion genetics
6. Microbes and microbiomes
7. Ecological epigenetics
8. Climate change genetics
9. Genetics of Wildlife Disease and Responses to Infection

THEME 6: EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS
1. Evolutionary genetics theory
2. Genomes and biodiversity
3. Molecular evolution
4. Paleogenomics
5. Evolution and development
6. Systematics and phylogeography
7. Evolutionary genetics of host-pathogen interactions
8. Genetic strategies to control pests and disease vectors (submitted proposal)
9. Genetics and epigenetics of sex (submitted proposal)

As well as the thematic symposia we will have an Early Career Researcher Showcase symposium. All PhD students or postdoctoral researchers who submits an abstract in any area of genetics will be considered for this symposium

In order to increase opportunities for delegates to present their research, there will be a series of satellite meetings and workshops. Suggestions for themes are most welcome.

The Organising Committee is making the following commitments with respect to the Congress program:-

• The program will be outstanding.
• Half of the invited Plenary and Symposia speakers will be female.
• We aim to have more than 10% of our invited speakers from developing nations.

To complement the scientific program, a dynamic exhibition will be an integral element of the Congress. There will be a number of optional events on offer including a Congress Social Event. We encourage participants to consider adding a day or two to experience what Melbourne and Australia offers.

For those unable to travel to Melbourne, a virtual offering will be available showcasing some key elements of the Congress program.

More details regarding the program will follow in the coming months.

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