Posted: December 7, 2018
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and the Penn State Postdoc Society presented the 11th annual Postdoc Research Exhibition on September 28 in Alumni Hall and the HUB-Robeson Center.
Postdoctoral scholars and committee members from the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and Penn State Postdoc Society pause for a photo during the Eleventh Annual Postdoc Research Exhibition on September 28, 2018. IMAGE: TRACEY ACCORDINO, PENN STATE
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and the Penn State Postdoc Society presented the 11th annual Postdoc Research Exhibition on September 28 in Alumni Hall and the HUB-Robeson Center. The annual event is part of National Postdoc Appreciation week which recognizes the significant contributions that postdoc scholars make to research and discovery.
Dr. Kutubuddin Molla, Fullbright Postdoc Scholar in the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, was one of three winners to receive a certificate and cash prize. Certificates were presented by Pallavi Eswara, director for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Penn State. The exhibition included poster sessions, a lightning talk competition and a panel discussion on career options after postdoctoral training.
Molla's poster entitled, "CRISPR-mediated Multiplex Base Editing in Rice," displayed the development of the CRISPR-base editor for plants in Dr. Yinong Yang's lab. "Using the CRISPR-base editor, we were able to precisely change targeted single nucleotides at two different loci in the rice genome," said Molla. "The base editor system developed in our study could be used to specifically alter many functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in agronomically relevant genes including but not limited to rice R genes for developing disease-resistant plants."
"The base editing technology has great potential for precision breeding and crop improvement with significant implications in food security," said Dr. Yang, professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology.
Molla is a Fullbright Scholar from India working on CRISPR mediated genome editing in rice in Dr. Yang's lab. Molla is also a scientist in the Crop Improvement Division, National Rice Research Institute in Cuttack, India.
