RIEL seminar series
Applying a Gene Knockout Approach to Cane Toad Management and Research
| Presenter | Alex Funk (Macquarie University) | |
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| Date/Time |
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| Contact person |
Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods
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| Location | Yellow 1, Level 1, Room 33 at CDU Casuarina Campus, and online via Zoom (see below for Zoom link). All times are ACST. | |
| Open to | All International audience, CDU staff and students, Public | |
Alex Funk is a third year PhD candidate at Macquarie University whose research blends herpetology, invasion biology, and conservation. The ability to cheaply and efficiently “knock out” genes with CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology has the potential to revolutionise conservation efforts worldwide.
In the seminar ‘Applying a Gene Knockout Approach to Cane Toad Management and Research’, Alex will discuss the pros and cons of knockout-based conservation and research before detailing the development and validation of a novel, knockout-based method for cane toad control that exploits the cannibalistic nature of invasive toad tadpoles in Australia.
Alex previously completed a Master of Science in Biology at Eastern Kentucky University, where he studied the impacts of feral pigs on salamander assemblages, before moving to Australia to pursue his PhD.
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