Synthetic biology and CRISPR technology are transforming microbial and industrial biotechnology R&D. This 2-day workshop is dedicated to introducing fundamental concepts of synthetic biotechnology, CRISPR technology and hands-on training on CRISPR-Cas-mediated RNA knockdown for microbial metabolic pathway engineering applications.

Concept and applications of synthetic biology and CRISPR-Cas technology
Learn the fundamentals and applications of synthetic biology and CRISPR-Cas technology. We will go through CRISPR-Cas system selection and experimental design training for plasmid-based CRISPR-dCas13 gene knockdown.

CRISPR-dCas13 sgRNA design and synthesis
Learn how to design, evaluate and synthesize CRISPR single guide (sgRNA) using molecular cloning. We will go through interactive design and analysis of guide sequence and cloning of target specific sgRNA.

CRISPR technology for plastic biotechnology
Learn more about the use of CRISPR technology and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymer-producing bacteria in industrial biotechnology and plastic bioupcycling. We will go through the concepts of bioengineered PHA-producing strain development and hands-on session for PHA biopolymer bioassay.

Postgraduate students (Master and PhD students), Post Doctorate, Academicians, Researchers (Government and non-government institution) and Life Science Service Providers (Company, agency).

• Dr. Ahmad Bazli Ramzi received his Bachelor and PhD degrees from University of Malaya (Malaysia) and Korea University (South Korea), respectively, with major in Biotechnology. He assumed post-doctoral fellow position and currently, works as a research fellow at the Institute of Systems Biology (INBIOSIS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia. He is actively working with national and international institutions for promoting microbial synthetic biology research through various R&D platforms including as plenary and invited speaker at 12th Malaysia International Genetics Congress 2017 (MiGC12), Symposium on Promoting Institutional Oversight to Address Biosecurity Threats from Emerging Technologies 2019 and AFOB-MC International Symposium (AFOBMCIS) 2021.

• His research group pursued towards integrating the multidisciplinary fields of Biological Engineering, Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology as biotechnological tools for translational research in Malaysia. With the aim of promoting industrial and CRISPR biotechnology, Dr. Bazli group specialize in chassis optimization, bioproduction (Specialty and fine chemicals), biotherapeutics (Engineered live biotherapeutics) and CRISPR technology (CRISPR-Cas9 and Cas13) using in-house Bioengineering and iCRISPR modules. Using omics-guided approaches, his group seeks to develop innovative solutions for addressing environmental and industrial problems including plastic waste pollution (Plastic bioconversion and biomonomer production) and oil palm basal stem rot disease (Ganoderma functional and biopesticide studies). Dr. Ahmad Bazli can be contacted via email; bazliramzi@ukm.edu.my. 

• Dr. Khairul Anwar Ishak began his academic career soon after earning his doctorate at University of Malaya in 2017. His dissertation, "Preparation of medium-chain-length poly-3-hydroxyalkanoates-based polymeric nanoparticle using phase inversion emulsification and its apparent formation mechanism," is a combination of biotechnology and nanotechnology.

• His research centers on utilizing biologically derived materials to fabricate nanomaterials and nanostructured materials with distinct properties. This allows for the exploration of their capabilities in the field of nanotechnology, involving a wide range of biotechnological and biomedical applications.

• Please free to contact Dr. Khairul Anwar Ishak (ka.ishak@ukm.edu.my) for research and industrial projects collaboration.