The Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB) is excited to announce that its annual meeting is going to be an in-person event (2024 World Congress on In Vitro Biology) and will be held from June 8-12, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch in St. Louis, MO. SIVB will also offer On-Demand Limited Access Registration opportunities providing access to recorded sessions from some of the key highlights of the 2024 program to accommodate the attendees who cannot meet in-person, but still want to enjoy some of the presentations from the program.

This plant and animal biotechnology and genomics-based meeting will be a forum gathering of the world’s top academic and industry leaders as well as experts from the government regulatory agencies sharing their latest research in emerging technologies, genome editing, synthetic biology, organoid, single cell genomics, metabolomics, microbiomes, biotechnology for sustainability, in vitro technologies and product development, and other fields. It also bridges the gap between plant and animal biotechnology research, thus providing an opportunity to learn advances with broad relevance across kingdoms of life.

Committed to providing an excellent scientific program, the Program Committee has put together sessions to facilitate collaboration and networking with leading experts. Dr. A. Mark Settles, a leader in sweet corn improvements, synthetic biology, and biomanufacturing in space, will provide the Keynote address on “Synthetic Biology to Support Human Exploration of Deep Space” during the opening ceremony on Sunday, June 9, 2024. He is currently a Synthetic Biology Lead Investigator at NASA AMES Research Center and Emeritus Professor at University of Florida, Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology program and Horticultural Sciences Department. Dr. Settles’ main research focuses on how microbes such as bacteria, algae and yeast are affected by conditions in space and how these microorganisms can potentially be utilized as bioregenerative life support systems to produce oxygen, eliminate CO2, and serve as food sources. In 2017, Dr. Settles participated as a crew member in a NASA experiment named Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) XIII.

The 2024 World Congress begins on Saturday, June 8, 2024, with preconference workshops on “Mastering Plant Transformation Vector Design Workshop” and “Plant Tissue Culture Medium and Practices for Successful In Vitro Tissue Culture Systems for Crop Genome Engineering.” This year’s meeting will also be held in conjunction with the 16th International Conference on Invertebrate and Fish Cell Culture, a quadrennial event which promises to bring top specialists in biomedical and agricultural fields to provide us with recent advances and applications of fish and invertebrate in vitro work in their respective areas of research. Topics include: “Foundational Concepts Underlying Successful Cell/Tissue Culture Strategies” and “Current and Future Applications of Invertebrate and Fish Cell Culture Systems”.

During the World Congress, a plenary session has been planned for each day, bringing experts in the field for both plant and animal sciences to share the knowledge and advances on topics entitled “Michael E. Horn Emerging Technologies Symposium: Transforming In Vitro Biology Using Artificial Intelligence and Synthetic Biology”, “F(e)ast Forward ⏩ Feeding Tomorrow”, “Advances in Epigenetics and Epitranscriptomics to Advance Crop Production and Human Health” and “Risks and Benefits of Biotechnology and Anti-microbials in Plant and Animal Production”. A joint symposium entitled “Templated Editing in Eukaryotic Systems for Gene Therapy and Agriculture” has also been organized to showcase the power of templated editing in both plant and animals as the key to implementing gene therapy and improvements in agriculture. In addition to the five plenary sessions and joint symposium, there will be concurrent symposia throughout the day.

SIVB has an excellent tradition of providing meaningful opportunities for students and young scientists to expand their personal and professional growth. To that end, educational symposia, luncheons, and workshops have been organized by the student committee. There are opportunities for competitive and regular student and post-doctoral oral presentations. Two student workshops “The Proper Use of English in Scientific Writing” and “Single Cell RNA Sequencing” will be offered at noon and in the evening, respectively, on Sunday, June 9, 2024.

The Plant Biotechnology Section of SIVB is excited to present a plethora of topics from the basic scientific principles to the applied aspects of micropropagation, genetic transformation, gene editing, metabolomics, and cannabis biotechnology. In addition to a variety of submitted oral and poster presentations, several exciting symposia and workshops have been organized and include: “Innovative Delivery Approaches for Transgene-Free Gene Editing”, “Trevor A. Thorpe Symposium on Advances in Plant Transformation Methods to Accelerate Crop Improvement”, “Biomanufacturing and Bioprocessing Cell Free Technologies”, “Saving Plant Diversity for Use by Future Generations. Can Plant Diversity Be Saved?”, “Unlocking the Power of Synthetic Apomixis: A Paradigm Shift in Plant Breeding “, “Innovative Delivery Approaches for Transgene-Free Gene Editing “, “Uncovering the Power of 3D Cell Printing and Its Applications in Crop Science” “Advances in Automation and Lab Designs to Accelerate Plant Biotechnology Research”, “Integrating New Breeding Technologies and Traditional Approaches for Advancing Ornamental Crops”. “Combating Climate Change with Gene Editing and Metabolic Engineering of Plants”, and “Applications and Challenges of Gene Editing in Difficult and Non-Model Crops and Prospects in Food Security”. Join us to learn the latest in in vitro plant biology.

The In Vitro Animal and Cell Sciences Section of SIVB is thrilled to offer many sessions covering exciting topics to reflect research advances and breakthroughs in “Developing Synthetic Materials to Control Natural Biological Processes”, “At the Forefront of Host-Pathogen Interactions”, “Cryopreservation and Biobanking: A Bridge Between In Vitro and In Vivo”, “Emerging In Vitro Methods for Livestock Performance”. Lightning talks and oral presentations will enhance the breadth of research exchange.

To accommodate the attendees that cannot meet in-person, but still want to enjoy some of the presentation from the program, SIVB will offer On-Demand Limited Access Registration opportunities providing access to recorded sessions from some of the key highlights of the 2024 program. Virtual poster presentations with pre-recorded audio descriptions by authors and silent abstract submission will also be provided.

The Program Committee is looking forward to welcoming everyone in-person and engaging in friendship and scientific discussion. Please join us for the National Blues Museum outing on Tuesday evening, June 11, and the scientific tours on Wednesday afternoon, June 12. The plant-based tour will be at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and Bayer Crop Science. The animal-based tour will be at MilliporeSigma and the McDonnell Genome Institute at Washington University. What a wonderful way to complete the meeting by enjoying friendship and the beauty of St. Louis, the heart of mid-America’s Biotechnology Community.

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