2012 Symposium

Food and Fuel for the 21st Century

May 11-13, 2012

Salk Institute of Biological Studies

La Jolla, CA

Registration for the symposium is now closed - no onsite registration is available.

The symposium "Sustainable Production of Food and Fuel for the 21st Century (FF21)" will be held May 11^th, 12^th, and 13th at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA. This symposium will focus on the potential of using genetics, genomics, and molecular and synthetic biology to enable increased productivity of photosynthetic organisms, both crop plants and algae. We are approaching a critical tipping point where global demands for an improved standard of living are exacerbated by declining petroleum sources and increasing more expensive food. We can address both of these issue by develop game changing technologies that increase the efficiency of converting solar energy into food and fuel. To help address this, the 2012 FF21 Symposium will address sustainable energy and food production for the world. Invited speakers will address the production requirements of food and fuel in the coming decades, and how we can initiate a new “green revolution” in plant and algal biology to help meet the productivity needs of agriculture throughout the world.

The meeting will bring together leading scientists with key stakeholders from the energy, agriculture, plant biology, and algal biology sectors, to share, educate, inform and discuss the potential of a new green revolution in food and fuel. Our hope and goal is for the summit's conclusions to be reported to senior policy makers at the USDA, DOE and DoD and will be used to help develop policy recommendations and guide investment decisions in future scientific collaborations.