Sino-German Symposium on Metabolic Engineering & Advanced Biofuels, supported by Sino-German Center for Research Promotion, has been successfully held in Qingdao during June 11-14, 2012.

The aims of metabolic engineering are to improve the yield of end products and the productivity. Metabolic engineering extension and building of new metabolic pathways in the metabolic network have largely been developed. In recent years, the quick development in systems biology and the increasing in-depth understanding of cell physiology, guided operations on metabolic engineering, and designed new metabolic pathways. Today, successfully reconstructing new biosynthetic pathways is possible.

At the 4-day symposium, over 40 scientists from China, Germany, UK, Russia and Israel had been discussing the recent research and progress in metabolic transformation of cellulase production, metabolic transformation metabolism of alcohol production microbial, metabolic transformation of photosynthetic microorganisms, especially the cyanobacteria, mechanisms of metabolic regulation and transformation of energy plants, and applications of systems biology and synthetic biology in bioenergy.

This symposium will deepen the understanding between Chinese and German scientists in biological metabolic engineering and advanced biofuels. By further cooperation derived from symposium, the development of metabolic engineering technology and industrialization of biomass fuel will be accelerated.

Dr. LU Xuefeng, QIBEBT deputy director general, and Dr. Wolfgang Liebl, head of Department of Microbiology Technical University Munich delivered welcome messages at the opening ceremony. Dr. CHEN Lesheng, director of Sino-German Center for Research Promotion, concluded at the closing ceremony.