GenScript®, the world's leading life science service provider, announced today the first GenScript Gene & Cell Engineering Virtual Summit, featuring in-depth discussions and research presentations on the gene synthesis and cell editing technologies that are transforming scientific and biomedical research today. The free Summit will be held on July 22 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with specialized tracks on Expanding the CRISPR Toolbox, Genome Editing in Cell & Gene Therapy, and Enzyme and AAV Engineering.

Dr. Alexander Marson, PhD, director of the Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology, will present a keynote address titled, "Reprogramming Human T Cells with CRISPR." Dr. Marson's lab uses genomic and gene editing approaches to address the consequences of coding and noncoding genetic variation in immune cell function and autoimmune disease risk and to genetically engineer human immune cells to target cancer, autoimmunity and infectious disease.

"We have been honored to partner with the Marson lab with our single-stranded DNA service since 2018 and to see the tremendous progress the team is making as leaders in CRISPR-based non-viral CAR-T engineering," said Ray Chen, Ph.D, president of GenScript Life Science Group.  "We welcome Dr. Marson as a keynote speaker at the Summit to address this important topic."

Joseph Melenhorst, PhD, director of Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Biomarker Program at the University of Pennsylvania, will present with closing session, "Response to Second Generation CAR T Cell Therapy: It Takes (at least) Two to Tango." The presentation will highlight discoveries in elucidating T cell- and tumor-cell-intrinsic determinants of CAR T cell efficacy, and will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

"As a leader in gene synthesis and gene editing technologies, GenScript has been fortunate to work with many of the pioneering scientists in cell and gene engineering," added Chen. "We are excited to bring Dr. Melenhorst and many of these leaders together for this summit to share their research, particularly at a time when rapid advancements in cell and gene engineering are poised to significantly improve the treatment of cancer and many other diseases."

Other leading researchers speaking at the Summit include:

• Ben Kleinstiver, PhD, assistant professor, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
• John Zuris, PhD, associate director, Editing Technologies at Editas Medicine
• Rama Shivakumar, manager of technical applications at MaxCyte Inc.
• Shondra M. Pruett-Miller, PhD, director, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Sam Sternberg, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University
• Niren Murthy, PhD, professor, Department of Bioengineering UC Berkeley- innovative Genomics Institute
• Gal Cafri, PhD, Immunotherapy and Genetic Engineering Group Leader, Sheba Medical Center
• Ramarao Vepachedu, PhD, development scientist IV, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc.
• Matthew Porteus, MD, PhD, professor, Stanford University, School of Medicine
• Killian S. Hanlon, PhD, research fellow, Harvard Medical School; Massachusetts General Hospital
• Karla Camacho Soto, PhD, senior scientist, Merck
• Ye Liu, senior director of Gene Transfer Technologies, REGENXBIO Inc.

To register for the event and to learn more, please visit labroots.com.