Arizona Western College Professor of Agriculture Dr. Hikmet Budak recently took his research global. The college reports Budak presented his research on genome editing to geneticists from around the world at an international conference in Tokyo, Japan.
Budak was invited to speak about his work, “CRISPR editing and silencing negatively regulated genes responsible for drought stress, cadmium toxicity, and insect damage,” at the BioJapan exhibition Oct. 13 before a large collaborative group. The exhibition describes itself online as “the world’s oldest biotechnology exhibition” and is one of three exhibitions at “Asia’s largest partnering event consisting of Exhibition, Seminar and Partnering program.”
“It was a privilege to present about CRISPR editing of cadmium toxicity genes while improving zinc deficiency and drought stress,” Dr. Budak said. “The application of genome editing combined with deep learning tools for gene annotation is amazing. Transforming these technologies and data into knowledge is our future in agriculture.”
Despite what it sounds like, Budak noted that CRISPR editing genes aren’t the same as GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). According to New Scientist magazine, CRISPR is “a way of finding a specific bit of DNA inside a cell” and then usually altering that piece of DNA. The process has opened the door to considerable research like Budak’s and collaboration.
“As this meeting was my second time in Japan, it was great to communicate science and maintain the network for public-private partnership, faculty and student exchange opportunities between AWC and Japanese universities as well as grant development activities as I have done in the past,” he remarked. “Our main goal is to shape the future of agriculture to feed a growing population while navigating a wave of multifaceted challenges such as seismic climate change.”
Along with a variety of workshops and presentations, the three-day conference featured partnering sessions and an exposition of tabletop exhibits from universities and leading companies in genomics and health industries from the U.S., U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, Belgium, Japan, Dubai, Taiwan and Holland.
“The research and partnerships fostered by Dr. Budak in Japan are a specialty that we did not previously have within our AWC Agriculture staff,” AWC Director of Agriculture Programs Tosha Gillispie said. “These experiences and knowledge will bring a new perspective for our students and will be showcased in our newly created Plant and Animal Genetics course.”
Dr. Budak’s prior experience is extensive, benefitting the institution and its students. He holds a Ph.D. in Plant Genetics with a minor in Statistics/Biometry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his work, per AWC, “encompasses a wide range of disciplines, accumulating 25 years of experience across academia and industry worldwide. Throughout his career, his focus has been on developing, understanding and applying genome editing and multi-omics tools for plant improvement.”
