A Report on the 3rd Genetic Code Expansion Conference

CONFERENCE REPORT
3^rdGenetic Code Expansion Conference

Corvallis, Oregon, USA August 8-10, 2024

The third Genetic Code Expansion (GCE) conference was held August 8-10^th, 2024 on the Oregon State University (OSU) Corvallis campus. The GCE 2024 Conference brought together 120 GCE users (Photo 1) from academic and industry to catalyze a more rapid expansion of the use of non-canonical amino acids in biomedical research and discuss the latest techniques and approaches that are applicable to a broad variety of fields.

Photo 1: Conference attendees

The program featured three keynote speakers, Peter Schultz, Michael Jewett, and Alanna Shepartz, who highlighted the history and breadth of advances in GCE Technology. Twenty-eight invited speakers presented cutting-edge research spanning a diverse array of topics including engineering tRNAs, GCE in model organisms, tool development for post-translational modifications and in vivo labelling, transforming cell-free systems for synthetic biology, and commercialization efforts. One key theme of the conference was how expanding access to GCE methods and the scope of experiments for which one envisions applying GCE techniques is resulting in wider adoption in the scientific community, especially in industrial applications and biotherapeutics. We had speakers and participants from 12 different biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The community engaged in lively scientific discussions and conversations about future directions of the field during the poster sessions featuring over 60 poster presenters (Photo 2), at meals (Photo 3), and during an evening bonfire party (Photo 4).

The next GCE Conference 2026, conference chairs, exact dates and location are under consideration and will be announced by the end of the year.

GCE 2024 Conference Chairs (Photo 5)

Professor Kathrin Lang, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Professor Abhishek Chatterjee, Boston College, USA

Professor Ryan Mehl, Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA