Remember the pre-pandemic joys of going to the movie theater and then waiting impatiently for the at-home release of your favorite movie? You couldn’t wait to take a break to refill your popcorn and replay the memorable parts over and over and over again.
We want you to enjoy these benefits for scientific events, too. So, we’re bringing the Digital PCR Festival from the live to the on-demand screen. Now, you can skip to the parts that interest you, pause to look at the data, make notes and rewind to make sure you heard that important part correctly.
We could give you an overview of all the individual talks, but this would be a very long read. The talks are so interesting that even ChatGPT would struggle to give a short enough summary that captures all the good parts. Just take a look at the presentations that you find relevant. And see how these talks won’t just grab your attention, they’ll also keep it.
Applied testing talks
- Dr. Adibah explains how to use digital PCR to detect hybrid invasive species of fish using environmental DNA
- Do you prefer chicken to fish? Dr. Singh presents an 8-hour workflow for food testing labs detecting Salmonella in poultry rinse. Yes, a digital PCR-based workflow is warranted because food analysts prefer to see results unaffected by PCR inhibitors. But you test food for more than bacteria. For example, Dr. Dobnik demonstrates how to use a digital PCR system to detect and quantify genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
- What goes well with most food? A glass of wine. Digital PCR can help there, too. Learn from Mr. Nicolato how to use digital PCR to detect wine-spoilage yeasts during wine production.
- Don’t forget to eat your greens. Listen to Dr. Brunkard explain how to apply digital PCR to quantify gene expression changes in plant diseases. If you prefer your greens on the lawn, watch Dr. Coillerot discuss using multiplex digital PCR to diagnose turf diseases.
- And for those of you who have to teach next to your research, gain some tips on incorporating digital PCR into your teaching lab from Dr. Goller.
Translational research talks
- Meet Dr. Vandesompele, professor, group leader, co-founder and scientist with an H-index of 97, with an impressive number of 97,000 citations. Meet Dr. Del Re, assistant professor, recipient of seven research awards in her field and an international scientist, having worked in Italy, the Netherlands and several locations across the United States. Each offers their perspectives on how digital PCR supports liquid biopsy analysis .
- What about other diseases? Dr. Trypsteen, co-founder of the Ghent University dPCR Consortium and with more than a decade of experience with dPCR in his back pocket, will discuss using multiplex digital PCR to quantify HIV reservoirs.
- Dr. Nguitragool, dedicated to understanding the epidemiology of malaria and discovering malaria vaccines, discusses how to use PCR and digital PCR to diagnose malaria.
- Dr. Bost, a patent-holding inventor, scientist with research experience at leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and CEO of Jeta Molecular, will explain how his team uses digital PCR to monitor transplant success by analyzing stem cell chimerism.
Biopharmaceutical manufacturing talks
- Dr. Kubista, Professor at Czech Academy of Sciences & MultiD Analyses AB, takes us on a journey of PCR's past, present and future, focusing on biopharmaceutical applications.
- If you prefer practical insights over a historical perspective, join Prof. Dr. Tseng, a Molecular & Medical Pharmacology Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, as he explains the supporting role of digital PCR in the analysis of circulating tumor cells and extracellular vesicles during solid tumor management .
- Last but not least, cell and gene therapy applications are well covered by Dr. Dobnik, Co-founder and CSO at Niba Labs and Mr. Stuart Nelson, Technical Lead at Eli Lilly and Company. Dr. Dobnik covers the topic of multiplex digital PCR for the evaluation of viral vector genome integrity, whereas Mr. Nelson discusses various applications for gene therapy products, including AAV quantitation.
Keynote address
A great gathering of scientific minds can only be completed with a keynote. And yup: We had one, too. From a man who needs little introduction. On a topic that needs little introduction. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Jim Huggett, Science Fellow at the National Measurement Laboratory, Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey and co-author of the dMIQE guidelines . He shared his perspective and insights on 40 years of PCR. And if you missed it, don’t waste 40 years regretting it. Just watch the recording.
If you find a particular talk incredibly stimulating, keep checking the blog. You never know when we might dig deeper, follow up with the speaker and offer fresh insights. So you don’t have to wait until our next festival to catch up on the latest developments in dPCR.