The “Understanding Life: Using Largescale Biodiversity Reference Genomes” conference occurred at the Frederick Sanger Center this past week. The Hinxton countryside and autumn weather provided an optimal setting for the attendees. The Sanger Center hosts were very “wellcoming”, and the genomics topics were wide-ranging, similar to a large evolution meeting, with engaging plenary and early career talks, discussing cutting edge methods. It was also good to attend this conference in person, and meet the speakers, poster presenters and students, after 5 years of remote-only zoom Biodiversity Genomics presentations (see for example – https://youtu.be/gmA7fb7e2cY?si=sHKJUM7-7vv2CBMD). This year’s live BG meeting was also the perfect size, and we could meet the excellent Darwin Tree of Life staff and team for the follow up workshop to the Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics Project. Thanks to Mark Blaxter, Kerstin Howe, and all of the organizers.
Lopez Lab @ NSU 