In the late afternoon on September 12th, Professor Feng Zhang, one of the 2016 Tang Prize laureates in Biopharmaceutical Science, delivered a Tang Prize/IUBMB (International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) Lecture during the 42nd FEBS (Federation of European Biochemical Societies) Congress, which takes place in Jerusalem from September 10th – 14th.
The Tang Prize/IUBMB Lecture, titled “From Microbial Immunity to Genome Editing,” attracted a high attendance, with over a thousand participants sitting in the conference hall. During the presentation, Prof. Zhang touched upon the application and rapid research development of the gene editing technology and introduced the latest direction in his research. According to Prof. Zhang, there are many other useful tools that can be applied to genome editing. His research will continue on exploring the diversity of CRISPR systems and identify new tools that can be applied into gene editing technologies.
The coordination of this Tang Prize/IUBMB Lecture is one of the Tang Prize and IUBMB’s joint efforts in supporting the research and education in Biopharmaceutical Science and related fields. The IUBMB President Prof. Joan J. Guinovart was the designated host of the lecture, and he cordially invited the Tang Prize CEO Dr. Jenn-Chuan Chern to co-host the event. Before the lecture began, an IUBMB medal and a diploma jointly endorsed by the Tang Prize and the IUBMB were presented to Prof. Zhang in recognition of his contribution in Optogenetics and genome editing technology.
Prof. Guinovart also introduced the Tang Prize and its four award categories, and the partnership agreement between the two organizations that aims at motivating young researchers to devote into the fields of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology was also mentioned. In addition, a short video clip about the Prize was played before the lecture, fostering information exchange among the Tang Prize and researchers and scientists from different countries across the world.
