Dr. Zulqurnain Khan is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology (IPBB), MNS University of Agriculture, Multan (MNSUAM), Pakistan. Dr. Khan earned his PhD in Biotechnology from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF), Pakistan during 2017. He is the first PhD candidate from Pakistan having his thesis on genome editing. He has been working in the field of genome editing since 2012. His research focuses on using genome editing tools (TALEs, TALENs, Cas9, dCas9 and multiplexed CRISPR/Cas9) for resistance against begomoviruses using model plants such as Arabidopsis and Nicotiana benthamiana. He is also using CRISPR/Cas9 technology for genetic improvement in cereal crops for abiotic and biotic stress resistance. He has published one book chapter, two review articles, and three research articles in international peer reviewed journals. Dr Khan received IRSIP fellowship from Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan during his PhD and worked as visiting researcher with Professor Caixia Gao at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China. Dr Khan has been engaged in teaching various courses in the field of biotechnology, breeding, molecular biology, genetics and genome editing since 2018. Dr. Khan has recently submitted a book as editor to Springer Nature entitled "CRISPR Crops: The Future of Food Security".
Professor Zulfiqar Ali is a Professor of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology and Director of Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) in MNS University of Agriculture, Multan (MNSUAM), Pakistan. Prof. Ali has completed his PhD from University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan and postdoctoral studies from Sydney University Plant Breeding Institute (2007-8) and Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences Nanjing (2009-11). He has published >80 books/chapters/research papers in highly popular journals like Plant Breeding, Nature’s Scientific Report, Rice, Field Crop Research, PLOS One, and has been serving as section editor of Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences. Prof. Ali has successfully completed various research projects. Currently, he is running six research projects won from national and international funding agencies including HEC, PARB, ADP, USAID, DFID, ACIAR etc. He has been granted with awards including Gold Medal 2017 in Biotechnology from Pakistan Academy of Sciences. For the last over 21 years, Prof. Ali has been engaged in the fields of plant biotechnology, breeding, genetics and molecular biology. His research focus is climate smart breeding using functional genomics tools.
Professor Asif Ali Khan is the Vice Chancellor, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan (MNSUAM), Pakistan since 2016. He did two postdocs form UC-Davis, USA and Liverpool, UK. During his professional career, he has served at many key posts at University of Agriculture, Faisalabad such as; Director Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), Director, Business Incubation Centre (BIC), Director, External Linkages. Prof. Khan has been teaching plant breeding and genetics for last 32 years. Prof. Khan has completed research projects funded from national and international agencies. Prof. Khan has published more than 140 articles in national and international impact factor journals. Prof. Khan has also edited and authored various books and book chapters. Prof. Khan received several fellowships and awards. Prof. Khan is a renowned geneticist and has completed more than ten research projects awarded from different national and international agencies. Over the past thirty-two years, Prof. Khan has been engaged in the field of genetics, evolution, functional genomics, plant biotechnology and plant breeding.