2025 marked a special milestone for the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (GMI). Since its founding in 2000, the GMI has established itself globally as a premier research institute and celebrated its 25th anniversary in May, 2025 with a series of events. 

Jubilee Lecture by Jennifer Doudna

Date: May 5, 2025, 6:00 PM - doors open at 5:30 PM

Venue: Festsaal of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Doktor-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna

Program:

• Premiere of Erbsenrondo - A Musical Portrait of the GMI (string quartet composed by Cheryl Frances-Hoad)
• Keynote: Prof. Jennifer Doudna (Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Innovative Genomics Institute University of California Berkeley & UCSF/Gladstone Institutes)

Genome Editing the Future: Transforming Human and Planet Health with CRISPR Fundamental research to understand how bacteria fight viral infections uncovered the function of CRISPR-Cas programmable proteins that detect and cut specific DNA or RNA sequences. CRISPR technology is now an indispensable tool in human, animal and agricultural research. Furthermore, the FDA’s approval of a CRISPR therapy for sickle cell disease marked the beginning of a new era in healthcare. Doudna discussed the scientific and societal advances that will expand both the applications and impact of genome editing across the globe.

Scientific symposium: “A Plant-astic Quarter Century“ 

Date: May 23, 2025; Symposium (all day), Party in the evening

Venue: Vienna BioCenter, Campus-Vienna-Biocenter 1 and Dr. Bohr-Gasse 3, 1030 Vienna

This day-long scientific symposium featuring talks from GMI alumni and former group leaders will highlight the wide-reaching impact of plant research at the GMI. 

Keynote: Julia Bailey Serres, Center for Plant Cell Biology, University of California, Riverside

Speakers:

• Javier Agustí, Instituto de Biologia Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia

• Petra Bulankova, Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Superieure Paris

• Wolfgang Busch, Salk Institute for Biological Studies

• Marion Clavel, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam

• Thomas Greb, Centre for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg University

• Claudia Jonak, Austrian Institute of Technology

• Tomokazu Kawashima, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky

• Polina Novikova, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne

• Aleš Pečinka, Institute of Experimental Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences

• Karel Říha, CEITEC Masaryk University

• Elwira Smakowska-Luzan, Wageningen University and Research

• Kelly Swarts, Umea Plant Science Centre, Umea University