The College of Science at the University of Basrah organized a seminar entitled (Enhancing the Performance of Methanotrophic Bacteria Using CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing System) by the graduate student Anwar Abdulwahab Maki.

 The study Aims 1-Isolation and Identification of methylotrophic bacteria from petroleum-contaminated soil through biochemical and genetic tools.2-Detection of the methane monooxygenase (MMO) and methanol dehydrogenase (MxaF) as functional marker genes for methylotrophs.3- Preliminary evaluation of the ability of bacteria to breakdown hydrocarbon compounds through biodegradation.4- Modifying the genomes of bacteria with CRISPR-Cas9.5- Analysing the effect of delivering CRISPR-Cas9 on biodegradation capabilities of the target bacteria. And included application of the CRISPR-Cas9 system in methylotrophic bacteria suggests a workable and suitable genetic alteration technique to boost its susceptibility to bioremediation of pollutants, particularly hydrocarbons and the study recommended to Finding new species of bacteria that have the ability to grow in methane or oil polluted soils, Applying more efficient techniques to easily transform these bacteria by CRISPR and establishing a university central laboratory capable of conducting bioremediating studies financed by oil companies present in the Basrah & other oil producing cities.