Noman Reza successfully defends PhD thesis

On Tuesday 22nd April 2025, Mohammad Ali Noman Reza successfully defended his PhD thesis, titled “Understanding viral resistance in Atlantic salmon cells through transcriptomics and genome editing”. The defense took place digitally via Zoom.

Reza completed his PhD project in the lab of Guro Sandvik at CIGENE, and was co-supervised by Thomas Nelson Harvey, Sigbjørn Lien (both CIGENE) and Jacob Seilø Torgersen (Aquagen).  The aim of the project was to increase the toolbox for genetic studies in Atlantic salmon, at the the same time gaining novel insights into the immune system in this fish species.

Disease caused by viruses is a major challenge for the welfare of farmed Atlantic salmon. To be able to make good vaccines and increase the resistance to viruses in Atlantic salmon, it is important to know more about how the salmon immune system works. Reza looked at the protective effect of interferon in salmon cells, and he identified which genes are being switched off and on when the cells are infected with two viruses, ISAV and IPNV, both of which are common problems in Atlantic salmon farming. Reza also used the genome editing tool CRISPR to switch off the function of key genes involved in interferon signalling. The results from his research increase our understanding of the immune response, and might be used to identify new genes that can be adjusted to improve the resistance in Atlantic salmon.

Another part of Reza´s PhD involved the estimation of promoter strength in Atlantic salmon cells. Promoters are used to activate the expression of a gene in an animal or a cell, and the results of this research will be valuable to scientists that want to study the function of genes in Atlantic salmon.

Reza also gave a very interesting trial lecture involving a more general overview of the potential for gene editing techniques to advance aquaculture and improve sustainability, with the title: “The transformative potential of gene editing in aquaculture”

The defense examination committee consisted of Professor Samuel Martin (University of Aberdeen, UK), Professor Maria K. Dahle (Veterinary institute, NMBU), and internal examiner Dr. Matthew P. Kent (CIGENE).

CIGENE congratulates Noman on a successful project and a great thesis.

The doctoral thesis is available for public review on this link (download):

https://nmbu.brage.unit.no/nmbu-xmlui/handle/11250/3200620