Dr. ZHANG Wei, an associate professor from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), got the “Good Oral Presentation Award” from the 5^th International Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Conference held in Thailand on May 26-30. 

On the conference, ZHANG Wei gave a presentation titled “Deciphering the Biosynthetic Mechanism of Bafilomycin from Streptomyces lohii”, which delivered a detailed introduction of the genome sequencing and mined out the bafilomycin biosynthetic gene cluster, and the characterization of the bafilomycin biosynthetic pathway by in vivo gene knockout and in vitro biological chemistry study. The talk highlighted the importance of cross-talk between primary and secondary metabolism in the machinery of synthesizing this potential drug-leader in antitumor and anti-osteoporotic area.  

The presentation of ZHANG Wei triggered the common interests among the audiences, and he was therefore recognized for the “Good Oral Presentation Award” by the conference committee. During his stay in Thailand, ZHANG Wei had good discussions about cytochrome P450, synthetic biology, and pre-drug screening with Prof. Amornrat PHONGDARA from the Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Bioinformatics and Prof. Vatcharin RUKACHAISIRIKUL from the Department of Chemistry of the Prince of Songkla University, and Prof. Danai TIWAWECH from the National Cancer Institute (Thailand).  

These preliminary connections have laid good foundation for collaboration between QIBEBT and the institutions in Thailand in the near future.