About the conference
New technologies in plant and livestock breeding, climate modeling, and natural resource use have emerged within the past decade presenting opportunities for achieving greater food security and sustainability. These range from genome editing tools like CRISPR to new ways of harvesting solar power to extract water in arid regions. With the advent of new technologies comes concerns about the impact of such developments, including biodiversity loss and conflicts with traditional practices. The 2016 Food Conference, organized jointly by the Oxford Food Forum and the Cambridge Food Security Forum, seeks to engage graduate and early career researchers, as well as those from outside academia, to present original research on the potential biological, ecological, economic and social implications of incorporating new technologies into
The conference will be divided into three sessions:
1. Technological Advances in Breeding: Opportunities and Impact
Genomic selection and genome editing are but two of a number of developments within crop and livestock breeding that offer the potential to enhance the traits of staple foods including by drawing upon the genetic resources harbored by biodiverse ecosystems. We invite papers based on original laboratory and/or field research addressing how technologies such as these are being applied, how they can complement ‘traditional’ breeding programs as well as the technical and social challenges that may result from adoption of these technologies.
