KAUST Research Workshop: The Metaorganism Frontier
February 19 – 21, 2018
February 19 | Open Research Conference
Level 0 lecture hall between Ibn Al-Haytham and Ibn Sina (bldgs. 2 and 3)February 20 – 21 | Participants Research Workshop
Ibn Al-Haytham (bldg. 2), Level 5, Room 5220Recent years have brought a changing imperative in life sciences sparked by advances in genomic tools to study the molecular setup of organisms. In particular, the development of next-generation sequencing changed our understanding of microbial diversity associated with organisms and environments. There is now a multitude of studies supporting the notion that a host-specific microbiome provides functions related to metabolism, immunity, and environmental adaptation to their animal and plant hosts. The sum of all member organisms forms a metaorganism/holobiont that opens new routes to understanding organismal health and environmental adaptation.
Level 0 lecture hall between Ibn Al-Haytham and Ibn Sina (bldgs. 2 and 3)February 20 – 21 | Participants Research Workshop
Ibn Al-Haytham (bldg. 2), Level 5, Room 5220Recent years have brought a changing imperative in life sciences sparked by advances in genomic tools to study the molecular setup of organisms. In particular, the development of next-generation sequencing changed our understanding of microbial diversity associated with organisms and environments. There is now a multitude of studies supporting the notion that a host-specific microbiome provides functions related to metabolism, immunity, and environmental adaptation to their animal and plant hosts. The sum of all member organisms forms a metaorganism/holobiont that opens new routes to understanding organismal health and environmental adaptation.
The “KAUST Research Workshop: The metaorganism frontier” brings together experts in microbial ecology and metaorganism evolution to showcase the current state of knowledge, and to discuss future research directions with an emphasis on how to address issues of animal and plant health through the lens of the metaorganism.
The one-day research conference will take place on February 19 in the lecture hall between buildings 2 and 3 and is open to all. Coffee and light refreshments will be served.
An accompanying poster session will be held on February 19 in the KAUST Library from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. where BESE students and postdocs will showcase their research.
An overview over the conference and workshop agenda is available here.