A Synthetic Biology Frontier Workshop Held at Qingdao
Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary branch of biology and engineering, combining various disciplines from within these domains, such as biotechnology, evolutionary biology, genetic engineering, molecular biology, molecular engineering, systems biology, biophysics, and computer engineering. Synthetic biology attracts intense attention in recent years, by applying these disciplines to build artificial biological systems for research, engineering and medical applications.
The Frontier Workshop on Synthetic Biology was held at the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of Chinese Academy of Sciences on April 9. The workshop was co-organized by the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation and Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology. More than 60 scientific experts from universities and institutes attended the workshop.
A lecture entitled "Design and construction of synthetic microbial cell factory" was delivered by Prof. LI Shengying, the director of Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology. He introduced the core concept, development status and application prospect of synthetic biology. In addition, Prof. LU Xuefeng from QIBEBT talked about "Biological manufacturing driven by photosynthesis with CO2 as a carbon source", Prof. ZHANG Youming from Shandong University discussed "Construction of efficient cell factory with function of biological nitrogen fixation and antibacterial/anti-insect", and Prof. WANG Ruiming from Qilu University of Technology presented "Characteristics and biosynthesis of 10-HDA". The participating experts and representatives of enterprises discussed the applications of synthetic biology in areas of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, new materials, and environmental governance.
The workshop may facilitate collaboration among local institutes, universities and enterprises, and will promote synthetic biology in China to develop more quickly and serve for national economy.
Contact:
Dr. XIN Hongchuan
Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Email: xinhc@qibebt.ac.cn
