Topics Webinar | Genetic Engineering in Agriculture
the chair
Hello everyone and thank you for joining us for our webinar today.
This webinar is being held, in part, to promote an upcoming MDPI Special Issue “Genetic Engineering in Agriculture, 2nd Edition,” a continuation of our previous collection “Genetic Engineering in Agriculture.” We seek article contributions in various formats, including (but not limited to) original research, reviews, opinion pieces, and more. Please visit the MDPI Special Issue website for further details about this collection and the deadlines for participating in it.
The growing human population necessitates a rise in agricultural output, including food from both plant and animal sources, feed (broadly defined as feeding plants and plant products to animals), and fiber (plant products including cotton, linen, and paper). Increased productivity and decreased losses can help improve overall yields. Plant losses, in particular, can be attributed to biotic factors such as insect damage, disease, and weed competition and abiotic factors including drought stress. One approach that can be used to mitigate this issue is genetic engineering. The development and rapid uptake of engineered crops such as herbicide-resistant and pest-resistant corn, cotton and soy exemplifies how genetic engineering can be applied to achieve desired outcomes. Following the success of foundational GE crops, a variety of additional plant types and traits have been brought to market. Some notable achievements include virus-resistant papaya, non-browning apple, and the recent addition of pink-fleshed pineapple. An abundance of new engineered agricultural crops and animals are in development, offering exciting prospects for the future.
Date: 20 August 2025 at 7:00 pm CEST | 11:00 am MDT | 1:00 am (21 August, CST Asia)
Webinar ID: 811 2434 8166
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Meet the Event Chair
Meet Our Speakers
Dr. Bernard (Bernie) Wone
Biology, University of South Dakota, South Dakota, USA;
Dr. Bernie “Ming” Wone is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of South Dakota, specializing in integrative molecular biology and biotechnology. His research bridges fundamental science and applied innovation, with breakthroughs in synthetic biotechnology development, extremophyte abiotic stress resilience, and the regulation of muscle metabolism and function. Dr. Wone is currently developing synthetic plant episomes (SYNPLASOMES) that enable stable, integration-free gene expression, advancing tools for sustainable agriculture and bioengineering. He has published extensively in leading journals and serves as an Associate Editor for BMC Plant Biology and as a Guest Editor for the International Journal of Molecular Sciences’s Special Issue “New Insights in Plant Abiotic Stress”.
Ms. Ivy Lin
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, Connecticut, USA;
Ms. Ivy Lin is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University, specializing in citrus developmental biology and genetic engineering. Her research focuses on using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to investigate gene function, with a particular interest in growth regulation and thorn development. Passionate about translational plant science, she aims to bridge fundamental research with applications that support sustainable agriculture. Outside the lab, Ivy enjoys good food and traveling—preferably a combination of the two.
Mr. Sebastian Cocioba
Binomica Labs, New York, USA;
Mr. Sebastian Cocioba is a Plant Genetic Engineer running New York Botanics, LLC, a Contract Research Organization focused on industrial client bioengineering in plants and microbes. Sebastian also co-founded Binomica Labs, an NYC-based non-profit focused on bridging the gap between research and education by providing the software, hardware, wetware, and thoughtware necessary such that anyone and everyone can conduct publishable research.
Sponsors and Partners
Organizer
The webinar was hosted via Zoom and required prior registration to attend. The full recording can be accessed below. In order to learn about future webinars, you can sign up for our newsletter by clicking “Subscribe” at the top of the page.
Genetic Engineering in Agriculture, 2nd Edition
Topic Editors: Dr. Amy L. Klocko, Prof. Dr. Jianjun Chen and Dr. Haiwei Lu
Abstract Submission Deadline: 31 January 2026
Manuscript Submission Deadline: 30 April 2026
Additionally, you can also explore the 1st Edition here: Genetic Engineering in Agriculture.