Asif Ali Khan Editor

Dr. Zulqurnain Khan is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology (IPBB), MNS University of Agriculture, Multan (MNSUAM), Pakistan. Dr. Khan earned his PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF), Pakistan, in 2017. He is the first PhD candidate from Pakistan to have a 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 has developed resistance in cotton against CLCuD using multiplex CRISPR/Cas system. He is also using CRISPR/Cas9 technology for the 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 peerreviewed journals. Dr. Khan received an IRSIP fellowship from Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, during his PhD and worked as a visiting researcher with Prof. 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 edited two books for Springer Nature entitled “CRISPR Crops: The Future of Food Security” and “The CRISPR/Cas Tool Kit for Genome Editing”.

Professor Zulfiqar Ali is a Professor at the Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology and Principal Officer in the Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), MNS University of Agriculture, Multan (MNSUAM), Pakistan. Prof. Ali completed his PhD from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan, and postdoctoral studies from Sydney University Plant Breeding Institute (2007–2008) and Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences Nanjing (2009–2011). He has published more than 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 the section editor of Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences. Prof. Ali has successfully completed various research projects. Currently, he is running six research projects funded by national and international funding agencies including HEC, PARB, ADP, USAID, DFID, ACIAR, etc. He has been granted awards, including the Gold Medal 2017 in Biotechnology from the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. Recently, Dr. Ali has also been awarded with the “National Level HEC Best Teacher Award 2021” by Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan. For over the past 21 years, Prof. Ali has been engaged in the fields of plant biotechnology, breeding, genetics, and molecular biology. His research focuses on 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 from UC-Davis, USA, and Liverpool, UK.

During his professional career, he has served at many key posts at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, the 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 the past 32 years. Prof. Khan has completed research projects funded by 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 by different national and international agencies. Over the past 32 years, Prof. Khan has been engaged in the field of genetics, evolution, functional genomics, plant biotechnology, and plant breeding.