Conference: Meeting: Cnidofest: A workshop on cnidarian model organism biology, September 7-10, 2022, Davis, CA

刺胞模型系统会议（“Cnidofest 2022”）将于2022年9月7日至10日在加州戴维斯的加州大学举行。本次会议将重点讨论刺胞动物，一组主要是海洋动物，包括水母，海葵和珊瑚，重点是刺胞动物，在实验室中用作分子研究的模式生物，以揭示基本生物过程的机制。刺胞动物模型系统越来越受欢迎，由于技术的巨大进步，现在允许复杂的机制研究;这些研究预计将对社会的许多领域，包括人类健康产生重大影响。传统上，大多数科学家只研究了少数模式生物，因为将工具引入新动物是一个重大障碍。这限制了我们对生物学的理解，因为整个分类群仍然严重不足，包括刺胞动物。然而，由于过去10-20年来技术的显著和快速进步，实验室模式生物的数量大幅增长。这包括许多新兴的刺胞动物模型，将在我们的会议上展出。越来越多的实验室将这些新技术应用于刺胞动物，并在许多领域取得了快速进展，包括发育生物学，细胞生物学，神经生物学，免疫学，进化生物学和生态学。我们的会议将突出已经实施的新工具，向与会者介绍可能应用于未来研究的尖端技术，并促进刺胞动物科学家之间的信息交流。这种想法的分享将对我们作为一个社区所能取得的进步产生积极影响。为了确保该领域的健康发展，我们将强调经验丰富的科学家和学员之间的互动，重点是增加多样性。刺胞动物是在许多科学领域进行基础生物学发现的优秀实验室模型，包括神经生物学，发育生物学，免疫学和生态学。技术的新进步使科学家们能够将复杂的技术方法应用于这一历史上未被充分研究的动物群体。刺胞动物的优点有很多：1）它们有简单的，很好理解的身体计划和有趣的生命周期，具有高度的可变性。2)他们持有一个翔实的系统发育的分支，是姐妹bilaterians;在刺胞动物的发现往往反映了深深保守的过程。3)刺胞动物的许多生命阶段都是透明的，这使得它们能够进行实时成像。4)一些刺胞动物是研究自我/非自我识别的模型，另一些则用于研究细胞内共生，例如在造礁珊瑚中发现的共生。5)许多刺胞动物是研究再生、干细胞和衰老的极好模型。我们的会议将强调新的技术方法，这将大大提高刺胞动物的研究。三位技术演讲者将在新兴技术研讨会上发表演讲1）CryoEM，2）单细胞多组学和3）实时成像。此外，我们将选择强调新技术发展的摘要，包括由NSF通过基因组学（EDGE）奖项支持的科学。将通过一个时间表促进参与者之间的互动，该时间表包括口头陈述会议、闪电会谈、海报展示和自由时间，以鼓励在休息和用餐时进行非正式讨论，这些都是作为一个小组进行的。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Cnidarian Model Systems Meeting (“Cnidofest 2022”) will take place September 7-10, 2022 at the University of California in Davis, California. This meeting will focus on cnidarians, a group of mostly marine animals that includes jellyfish, sea anemones, and corals, with a focus on cnidarians that are used as model organisms in the laboratory for molecular research to uncover the mechanisms underlying basic biological processes. Cnidarian model systems are growing in popularity due to dramatic advances in technology that now allow for sophisticated mechanistic studies; these studies are expected to have significant impact on many areas of society, including human health. Traditionally, most scientists have studied only a handful of model organisms because importing tools to new animals was a significant barrier. This has limited our understanding of biology because entire taxa remained severely understudied, including the cnidarians. However, due to significant and rapid advances in technology over the past 10-20 years, the number of laboratory model organisms has grown tremendously. This includes many emerging cnidarian models that will be featured at our meeting. A growing number of laboratories are applying these new technologies to cnidarians and making rapid progress in many fields, including developmental biology, cell biology, neurobiology, immunology, evolutionary biology, and ecology. Our meeting will highlight new tools that have already been implemented, introduce attendees to cutting edge technologies that may be applied to their future research, and facilitate the exchange of information between cnidarian scientists. This sharing of ideas will positively impact the advances we are able to make as a community. To ensure the healthy growth of our field, we will emphasize interactions between experienced scientists and trainees, with a focus on increasing diversity.Cnidarians are excellent laboratory models for making fundamental biological discoveries in many scientific fields, including neurobiology, developmental biology, immunology, and ecology. New advances in technology are now allowing scientists to apply sophisticated technological approaches to this historically understudied group of animals. The advantages of cnidarians are many: 1) They have simple, well-understood body plans and interesting life cycles with high variability. 2) They hold an informative phylogenetic position as the clade that is sister to bilaterians; discoveries made in cnidarians are often reflective of deeply conserved processes. 3) Many life stages of cnidarians are transparent, making them amenable to live imaging. 4) Some cnidarians are models for studying self/non-self recognition and others are used to study intracellular symbioses, such as those found in reef-building corals. 5) Many cnidarians are great models for studying regeneration, stem cells, and aging. Our meeting will emphasize new technological approaches that will greatly enhance cnidarian research. Three technology speakers will present seminars on emerging technologies 1) CryoEM, 2) single cell multiomics, and 3) live imaging. In addition, we will choose abstracts that emphasize the development of new technologies, including science supported by NSF Enabling Discovery through GEnomics (EDGE) awards. Interactions will be fostered among participants through a schedule that includes oral presentation sessions, lightning talks, poster presentations, and free time to encourage informal discussion over breaks and meals, which are all done as one group. The goal is to exchange ideas for advancing technology in cnidarians, as well as to foster growth in the community through trainee support.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.