Gene Editing in Plants

Dr. Ashwani Kumar

Dr. Ashwani Kumar Born (1946) received BSc at Agra University and MSc (Botany) at University of Rajasthan. He was awarded Gold Medal for standing first in order of merit. His PhD (1971) was under supervision of Professor H.C. Arya and post-doctoral with Professor Dr. K-H. Neumann, and later on with Professor Dr. Sven Schubert at Justus Liebig Universitat, Giessen, Germany, with Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. His botanist father Professor Swami Dayal Tewari (MSc in Botany) was his first teacher. Professor Ashwani Kumar was also selected in Indian Administrative Services (IAS: IPS) (1972), but he opted a career in Botany being his family subject. His wife Dr. Vijay R. Kumar is also Professor of Botany. He was appointed as Assistant Professor in 1969, Associate Professor in 1985, and Full Professor from 1986 to 2007. Then he was Adjunct Professor until 2016. During this period, he held many important administrative andresearch positions such as Head of Department of Botany and Coordinator SAP (1995-1998), Director, Life Sciences, 2001-2004, Director of Central Library and Information Science (2000-2005), Member Senate, Research Board, Convener Board of Studies Botany and Biotechnology, VC nominee for the Academic Council of MDS University, Ajmer and VC nominee for governing body of Subodh PG College Jaipur. Member governing body Academic Staff College, University of Rajasthan Jaipur, Member Board of studies and Academic Council of several Universities, Advisory committee on Biotechnology, and Medicinal Plant Board Government of Rajasthan, member selection committees of Rajasthan and Himachal Public Service Commissions. He along with members of COC introduced Integrated Biotechnology 5 year course in Rajasthan. In recognition of his research contributions, Dr. Kumar was awarded Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for 1977-1979, with several resumption of fellowships until 2017, British Council Visitorship, UK (1986); Visiting Professorship at Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University in Japan (1999-2000); Toyama Prefectural University Japan (2011); and INSA-DFG Visiting Professorship at Germany, 1997. He holds diploma in German language and has certificate in French language. His area of research include photosynthesis in vitro and in vivo, biotic and abiotic resistance, ethno botany, bioenergy and presently understanding salinity resistance in maize. He has also carried out research projects granted by UGC, USDAICAR, MNES, CSIR, DST, DBT, and FACT. He has active interactions with scientists at University of California and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA, University of Laval, Canada, and Wageningen University, Netherlands. He visited various universities in UK, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal for scientific interactions. He attended large number of national and international conferences as invited speaker and served as chair or co-chair inInternational Botanical Conference, Berlin and EU Biomass conferences. He has published 220 research papers in national and international journals and 23 books, of which 10 books are authored and 13 edited from reputed publishers such as Springer and IK. He is member of editorial board of Current Trends in Biotechnology and Pharmacy. He has guided 39 research students to PhD at University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India. He is an elected Fellow of Botanical Society, Fellow of Psychopathological Society, Fellow of Indian Society of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Fellow of Mendelian Association, Fellow of Association of Biotechnology and Pharmacology, and Fellow of Indian Fern Society. He has also published a total of 16 books including Plant Cell and Tissue Culture--A Tool in Biotechnology: Basics and Application and edited a book Working with Ferns: Issues and Applications with Helena Fernandez and Maria Angeles Revilla both by Springer. He also has 14 books mainly in the field of biotechnology to his credit. He has been a consultant in World Bank Project sanctioned to SPRI-HPPI, President Commonwealth Human Ecology Council (India chapter), and presently President Indian Botanical Society. He received V. Puri Medal as Botanist and Teacher's Excellence Award of CEE in 2015. He was President Society for Promotion of Plant Science for 2021-2022. He is Editor in chief of UGC care listed Journal of Plant Science Research and International Journal of Life Sciences.

Dr. Sudipti Arora

Dr. Sudipti Arora is an Environmental Biotechnology Research Scientist and Assistant Director at Dr. B. Lal Institute of Biotechnology in Jaipur. With specialization in waste management, she holds a patent on nature-based wastewater treatment solution by Vermifiltration technology. She is also the founder of "Prakrit: a Centre of excellence in Environmental Biotechnology" and serves as the Director of the NGO, Prakrit Sustainable Integrated Foundation. The organization's mission is to provide transformative education and innovative solutions to drive the planet towards sustainability in support of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Dr. Sudipti Arora earned her Ph.D. from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, and her master's degree in environmental engineering from. Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur She has also served as Guest faculty in MNIT, Jaipur from 2015-2016. She is an active member of the many prestigious organizations such as, International Water Association, Indian water works association IWWA, BRSI, Inner Wheel Club Jaipur East, Ficci-Flo, Indian Women Network (IWN), CII Rajasthan Chapter, Indian Society for the study of reproduction and fertility (ISSRF), and International Worm Based Sanitation Alliance (IWBA) to name a few. Besides, she is a co-chair of committee on Environment, Climate Change & Water, ASSOCHAM Rajasthan state Development council for FY 2023-24, which proves her leadership potential & great contributions towards society. She also holds executive positions for IWN and IITR Rajasthan Alumni Chapter.

Currently, she is involved in 3 funded projects (funded by DST & SERB, GOI) and have completed 3 national & International projects in the past. Her recent projects in SARS-CoV-2 wastewater-based epidemiology research from India with other Indian, UK and Australian international partners through Global challenge research funds (GCRF 2020) has highlighted her commitment to the field. She is in the committee for National COVID-19 Wastewater surveillance consortium, by INSACOG.

Dr. Arora is also involved in an Indo-European project titled "Identifying best available technologies for decentralized wastewater treatment and resource recovery for India (Saraswati 2.0)," funded by DST, GOI.

Additionally, she is a part of an integrated technology intervention project, funded by DST, GOI, on "Transforming Aandhi village in Rajasthan towards a zero-waste model through green technology interventions."

She has recently been recognized as "IWA Grundfos young water professional" as only one from India and as a delegate to attend UN Water Conference 2023, representing India at such an international platform.

Dr. Arora has authored and co-authored more than 50 important publications including journals and books chapters and edited 3 books with International Publications. She has also guided the research work of 60 UG & PG students, and currently guiding 2 PH. D Students demonstrating her dedication to the research field.

Dr. Arora has been honored with numerous awards, including the "Young water professional award" by Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, "Research Excellence Award 2020" by INSc for outstanding research work on vermifiltration technology, and the "Green Parrot Award" by Dainik Bhaskar in 2018, First prize in poster session at IWA Conference, Nepal in 2014, and Young Scientist award at UCOST conference, Dehradun in 2013 for her contributions in Indigenous wastewater treatment.

She has shown immense contribution in bridging the gap and bringing science for society through her outreach programs and awareness initiatives. She has delivered various awareness sessions, webinars, and during conferences demonstrating waste to resources and do-it-yourself composting & zero waste journey, to name a few. Being featured in "She news, Rajasthan Patrika" highlights the recognition she has gained for her work. Additionally, her recent inauguration of the "WISE center - Women's Innovation for Restrengthening Empowerment" reflects her commitment to supporting rural women and uplifting society as a whole.

Her passion for making a difference in society through her various initiatives is commendable, and it's evident that she is making a positive impact on people's lives. By empowering women and promoting sustainable practices, she is contributing to a better future for communities and the environment.

Professor Dr. Shinjiro Ogita

Professor Dr. Shinjiro Ogita has over two decades of experience in the field of plant biotechnology. In 1992, he started his research career as a master's student at the United Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), Japan, and in 1997, he received his PhD in agriculture (subject: sciences of resources and environment). He is an expert in the field of cell and tissue culture and transformation technologies for higher plants. He worked as a postdoc at the Laboratory of Cell Manipulation, Division of Bio-resources Technology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Japan (October 1997-September 2000) to develop an efficient somatic embryogenesis of conifer. He also worked at the Laboratory of Plant Molecular Breeding, Research and Education Centrefor Genetic Information, Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), Japan (October 2000-March 2003) to establish genetically modified decaffeinated coffee plants (Nature 2003). He started academic career at the Laboratory of Plant and Cell Engineering, Biotechnology Research Centre and Department of Biotechnology, Toyama Prefectural University (TPU), Japan (April 2003-March 2015). He belongs to Prefectural University of Hiroshima (PUH), Japan (April 2015-present). He presently works as a full professor at the Department of Local Resources (newly established on 1 April 2020). Now, he focuses on higher education and research for the latest agricultural and biotechnological research fields.

Professor Dr. Yuan-Yeu Yau

Dr. Yuan-Yeu Yau (aka Frank Yau) obtained his master's and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. He worked as a postdoc and a specialist at the University of California-Berkeley and Plant Gene Expression Centre (USDA-ARS) at Albany, California, working in areas of plant biotechnology, plant breeding, plant biochemistry, and plant physiology. Dr. Yau worked on projects with grants supported by the NFS (National Science Foundation), NIH (National Institutes of Health), USDA, Cotton Incorporated, California Fresh Carrot Advisory Board, and Northeastern State University. These projects include carrot breeding for fresh market, cottonseed gossypol (a toxic compound) removal, and the development of clean-gene technology and of stroke drug using molecular farming. Dr. Yau joined Dr. David W. Ow's team (University of California-Berkeley) in developing an operation system for precision transgene integration, stacking (at same locus), and deletion (e.g., removal of SMG) in plants using microbial site-specific recombination (SSR) systems. Professor Yau has authored and coauthored important discoveries in several Science Citation Index (SCI) and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) journals, including Plant Biotechnology Journal, Molecular Plant, Plant Molecular Biology, Molecular Genetics and Genomics (MGG), BMC Biotechnology, Molecular Breeding, Transgenic Research, Plant Cell Reports, Plant Biotechnology Reports, Journal of Integrative Agriculture, and Botanical Studies. Dr. Yau also serves as a reviewer for several international scientific journals, including Plant Biotechnology Journal (ISI JCR® Ranking in 2019: 9/234 (in "Plant Sciences" category); 10/156 (in "Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology" category)), Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, and Plant Cell Reports. He also served as a reviewer for several book proposals for Springer-Nature. He is also an editor of several Springer-Nature books. He joined the Chinese Academy of Sciences as a professor in 2010 and then joined Northeastern State University of Oklahoma (USA) as a research scientist and professor in 2012.

Dr. Krishnendu Mukherjee

Krishnendu Mukherjee holds the position of Senior Scientist at the Institute of Hygiene, University of Muenster in Germany. He completed both his MSc and PhD degrees at Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany, laying the foundation for his academic journey. Dr. Mukherjee has amassed valuable research experience through his affiliations with esteemed institutions, including the Fraunhofer Society and RWTH Aachen University, both situated in Germany. His scholarly contributions are evident through his authorship of over 25 original research articles published in international peer-reviewed journals. In addition to his research publications, Dr. Mukherjee has authored books on emerging topics such as "Insect Biotechnology," "Yellow Biotechnology," and "Biology and Ecology of Aphids," all of which have been published by Springer. Acknowledging his academic excellence, Dr. Mukherjee has received Young Scientist Awards at many international conferences, a testament to his noteworthy achievements in his field. His expertise is further underscored by invitations to serve as a keynote speaker at esteemed institutions, including the Harvard Medical School in the USA. Dr. Mukherjee is actively engaged in the academic community as an editorial board member for peer-reviewed international journals like Frontiers in Immunology, Insects and LS -International Journal of Life Sciences. Furthermore, he has been selected as a member of the German Research Foundation (DFG) youth academy on "Antibiotic resistance in urogenital infections-NAUGI," reflecting his commitment to addressing pressing research challenges in this area.