It will be held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Spring Creek Campus of the Collin County Community College District, at 2800 E. Spring Creek Pkwy., in Plano.

This year's theme is "The Crossroads of Controversy and Solutions," said Dr. Rebecca Parker, conference coordinator and regional program director for agriculture and natural resources with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Dallas.

"The conference is filling up fast as we have several high-profile speakers on the agenda," Parker said.

The conference targets educators and professionals in the biotechnology field, she said, but it is open to anyone else who would be interested.

Featured topics include "Critters and Cadavers," "Food Safety in the Farmer's Field," "The Genetic Basis of Disease," "regeneration of nerves with nanotubes," "DNA Analysis in Forensic Science," "Agents in Bioterrorism" and "Virtual Instruments for Biology and Chemistry."

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Harold "Skip" Garner, professor of biochemistry and internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Garner will address the medical applications of genomic research.

Workshop presenters also will include experts from the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of North Texas, Southern Methodist University, the community college Collin County Community College, UT Southwestern, Bio-Rad Laboratories and Invitrogen Corporation.

The event fee is $20 and includes lunch. For registration and additional details, visit http://dallas.tamu.edu/Biotechnology.aspx or call Jenny Leone at AgriLife Extension, 972-952-9258, or Dr. Bridgette Kirkpatrick, at the community college, 972-881-5853.

The conference is offered by AgriLife Extension, the community college district, Region 10 Education Service Center, Southern Methodist University, UT Dallas and the Science Teacher Access to Resources at Southwestern program, known as STARS.