New & Noteworthy
Apply Now for the 2025 Yeast Genetics and Genomics Course
March 11, 2025
For over 50 years, the legendary Yeast Genetics & Genomics course has been taught each summer at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, though the name didn’t include “Genomics” in the beginning. The list of people who have taken the course reads like a Who’s Who of yeast research, including Nobel laureates and many of today’s leading scientists.
The application deadline is March 31st, so don’t miss your chance!
Find all the details and application form at the CSHL Meetings & Courses site. This year’s instructors – Grant Brown, Soni Lacefield, and Greg Lang – have designed a course (July 22 – August 12) that provides a comprehensive education in all things yeast, from classical genetics through up-to-the-minute genomics. Students will perform and interpret experiments, learning about things like:
- Transformation & Genome Engineering
- Microscopy
- Manipulating Yeast
- Dissecting Tetrads
- Isolating Mutants
- Working with Essential Genes
- Synthetic Genetic Arrays
- Fluctuation Assays
- Whole Genome Sequencing & Analysis
2025 Invited Speakers
Francisco Cubillos, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile
Ivan Dedek, Meier’s Creek Brewing Company, Cazenovia, NY
Ian Ehrenreich, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Catherine Freudenreich, Tufts University, Medford, CT
Jonathan Friedman, University of Texas Southwestern, TX
David Garcia, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Kerry Geiler-Samerotte, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Patrick Gibney, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Elena Kuzmin, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Jun-Yi Leu, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
Amy MacQueen, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Rob Nash, Saccharomyces Genome Database, Stanford University, Palo Alto. CA
Ally O’Donnell, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Techniques have been summarized in the accompanying course manual, published by CSHL Press.
Who should attend? Scientists who aren’t part of large, well-known yeast labs are especially encouraged to apply – for example, professors and instructors who want to incorporate yeast into their undergraduate genetics classrooms; scientists who want to transition from mathematical, computational, or engineering disciplines into bench science; and researchers from small labs or institutions where it would otherwise be difficult to learn the fundamentals of yeast genetics and genomics.
What else goes on there? Besides its scientific content, the fun and camaraderie at the course is also legendary. In between all the hard work there are late-night chats at the bar and swimming at the beach. There’s a fierce competition between students at the various CSHL courses in the Plate Race, which is a relay in which teams have to carry stacks of 40 Petri dishes (used, of course). There’s also typically a sailboat trip, a microscopy contest, and a mysterious “Dr. Evil” lab!
The Yeast Genetics & Genomics Course is loads of fun – don’t miss out!
Categories: Conferences