WG4 Workshop: Biotech in conservation, Portorose, SLOVENIA

G-BiKE Working Group 4 hold a workshop entitled “New developments in the field of genomics technologies for solving practical conservation issues” in Portorož – Portorose, Slovenia from 4th-6th March 2020, organized by Prof. Dr. Elena Bužan (University of Primorska, Slovenia) and her group. There were 5 invited speakers and 15 participants from 14 different countries. During talks and discussions participants were provided an overview about: new gene modification techniques, gene drive techniques, recent biotechnology approaches, what contributes to inbreeding depression and how to translate research on to wildlife management. The role of biobanking, reproductive science and genomics for genetic rescue in highly endangered species was further discussed along with the importance of ancient DNA and how can we control malaria using gene drive mosquitoes. The main outcome of the workshop will be a scientific paper where we are supposed to provide an overview of potential use of new genomic technologies for addressing practical conservation issues in which we will emphasize what is feasibly now and what is far ahead as well as possibilities to implement these techniques in different countries.