JOIN
LOGIN
-
Overview
-
Program
-
Registration
-
Submission
-
Sponsor
-
Useful
Information -
Close
Plenary Lecture
| Plenary Lecture Ⅰ | |
|---|---|
 Kohei Oda, Ph.D. Emeritus Professor at Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, JAPAN Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry. |
Background
In 1975, Kohei Oda obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Osaka Prefecture. He obtained
professor position at Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT) in 1992. His scientific field is
Applied Microbiology. He discovered new families of peptidases, Sedolisins (Nature
Structural Biology, 2001) and Eqolisins (PNAS, 2004), and PET hydrolytic enzymes, PETase and
MHETase (Science, 2016). In 2007, he became Professor Emeritus. He is Fellow of the Japan
Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry.Presentation
Ideonella sakaiensis, PETase and MHETase: From Identification of
Microbial PET Degradation to the Current Situation
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is used extensively worldwide, and its accumulation in the environment threatens ecosystems. We succeeded in isolation from a microbial consortium of Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6, microorganism that is able to use PET as its energy and carbon sources, and characterization of the key enzymes, PETase and MHETase (Yoshida et al., Science 2016). This discovery accelerated research on not only these enzymes, but also on cutinases known to degrade PET. As a result, cutinase LCC is close to its use for industrial-scale treating of waste PET. In this symposium, the current status of this research area will be introduced.
|
| Plenary Lecture Ⅱ | |
|---|---|
 George Georgiou, Ph.D. Dula D. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering Depts. of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Molecular Biosciences and Oncology |
Background
George Georgiou’s research is focused on research is focused on: (ii) the discovery/preclinical development of protein therapeutics; (i) the molecular level understanding of the serological antibody repertoire in human health and disease and (iii) the engineering second generation therapeutic antibodies. He is the author of >280 research publications and inventor of >130 issued and pending US patents comprising 29 different technology suites that have been licensed to >32 biotech and pharma companies. He co-invented and led the early development of one FDA approved protein therapeutic, 4 that are currently in clinical trial and several more earlier-stage therapeutics. He founded GGMJD in 1999 (acquired by Maxygen in 2000), Aeglea Biotherapeutics in 2013 (NASDAQ:AGLE; Board of Directors 2013-2018) and Ikena Oncology in 2016 (NSDQ: IKNA; Board of Directors: 2016-2020). Professor Georgiou was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2005), National Academy of Medicine (2011), National Academy of Inventors (2015) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2016). He was named as one of “100 Eminent Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era,” by the American Institute of Chemical Engineering (2008) and a “Top 20 Translational Researchers,” by Nature Biotechnology (2014).
Presentation
Engineering Enzyme Therapeutics for Cancer Immunotherapy and Inborn Errors of Metabolism
Cancer is predicated on the suppression of adaptive immune responses. A key mechanism for immune escape in cancer arises from genetic changes and/or metabolic re-programming that result in the aberrant accumulation of metabolites that potently suppress lymphocyte function. Our lab has pioneered the concept of immune check-point enzyme therapy whereby systemic administration of pharmacologically optimized, human engineered enzymes is employed to activate the immune system leading to cancer eradication. We have invented and led the development of 5 such engineered enzymes that are now either in clinical or late-stage preclinical evaluation. In this presentation I will describe the mechanism of action for two of these checkpoint enzymes and the respective protein engineering campaigns that led to the design of the clinical candidate molecules for human studies. I will also briefly mention our related work on engineered human enzymes for the treatment of inborn error of metabolism diseases.
|
| Plenary Lecture Ⅲ | |
|---|---|
 Bernhard Palsson, Ph.D. Professor at Bernhard Palsson University of California, SanDiego USA |
Background
Bernhard Palsson is the Y.C. Fung Endowed Professor in Bioengineering, Professor of Pediatrics, and the Principal Investigator of the Systems Biology Research Group in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Palsson has co-authored more than 590 peer-reviewed research articles and has authored four textbooks, with more in preparation.His research includes the development of methods to analyze metabolic dynamics (flux-balance analysis, and modal analysis), and the formulation of complete models of selected cells (the red blood cell, E. coli, CHO cells, and several human pathogens). He sits on the editorial board of several leading peer-reviewed microbiology, bioengineering, and biotechnology journals. He previously held a faculty position at the University of Michigan for 11 years and was named the G.G. Brown Associate Professor at Michigan in 1989. He is inventor on over 40 U.S. patents, the co-founder of several biotechnology companies, and holds several major biotechnology awards. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1984. Dr. Palsson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is a Fellow of the AIMBE, AAAS, and the AAM. Dr. Palsson has been a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher since 2014. Presentation
EMERGENCE OF GENOME ENGINEERING IN THE 2020
Background: We have reached the point in time where we can realistically contemplate the design of entire genomes. This will open a new and fundamental chapter in the history of engineering applied to life science. One can thus hypothesize that a new fundamental engineering discipline will emerge during the 2020s, and most likely the first Departments of Genome Engineering will be in operation at leading universities around the world by 2030.Foundations of engineering disciplines: Engineering disciplines are built on similar foundations, including, definition, measurement, modeling (mechanistic and phenomenological), construction, and control. We now have genome-wide capabilities representing these foundations for Genome Engineering. Need for modeling and prediction: The need to integrate knowledge types into big data analytics, generally referred to as explanatory-artificial-intelligence, is growing. Existing genome-scale modeling tools are well positioned to play an important role, but they must be integrated with big data analytics. This talk will describe progress with three approaches to such knowledge enrichment: 1) the use of Independent Component Analysis (ICA) to define independently modulated sets of genes in bacterial transcriptomes, 2) the use of pangenome analysis for the thousands of bacterial genome sequences being generated, and 3) the use of machine learning methods for the analysis of binary phenotypes, such as antimicrobial resistance. |
| Plenary Lecture Ⅳ | |
|---|---|
 John van der Oost, Ph.D. Professor at Wageningen University Netherlands |
Background
John van der Oost obtained his PhD at the Free University (Amsterdam 1989). After postdoc positions at Helsinki University and EMBL-Heidelberg he returned to Amsterdam in 1992. Since 1995 he is group leader of the Bacterial Genetics group in the Laboratory of Microbiology at Wageningen University. John was appointed Full Professor in 2005. He then initiated a new research line, addressing microbial host-virus interactions. Initially the focus was on the E.coli CRISPR-Cas system, later moving to prokaryotic variants of the Argonaute nuclease, to a novel CRISPR nuclease Cpf1/Cas12a, and to laboratory evolution of nucleases. He was elected as member of EMBO (2013), the Royal Netherlands Academy for Arts and Sciences (KNAW, 2017), the Royal Dutch Society for Science and Humanities (KHMW, 2019), and the Academia Europaea (2019). He is co-founder/advisor of NTrans Technologies and advisor of SCOPE Biosciences. In 2018 he received the Spinoza prize (NWO), and in 2020 the Lennart Philipson Award (EMBL).
Presentation
Type III CRISPR-Cas - from structure-function analyses to diagnostics
Characteristic properties of type III CRISPR-Cas systems include recognition of target RNA (rather than DNA) and the subsequent induction of a multifaceted immune response. This involves sequence-specific cleavage of a target RNA and production of cyclic oligoadenylate (cOA) second messenger molecules that may trigger dormancy or cell death. In this study, we discovered that a largely exposed seed region at the 3’ end of the crRNA is essential for target RNA binding and cleavage, whereas base pairing at a unique region at the 5’ end of the guide is required to trigger cOA production. Moreover, we uncovered that the natural variation in the composition of type III complexes within a single host results in different guide lengths, and hence variable seed regions. This shifting seed may prevent escape by invading genetic elements, while controlling cOA production very tightly to prevent unnecessary damage to the host. Lastly, we used these findings to develop a new diagnostic tool, named SCOPE, which was used for the specific detection of SARS-CoV-2 from human nasal swab samples, showing sensitivities in the atto-molar range.
|
| Plenary Lecture Ⅴ | |
|---|---|
 Alex Aravanis, MD, PhD Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Illumina |
Background
Alex Aravanis MD PhD joined Illumina in June 2020. As Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, he is responsible for leading Illumina's research and technology development functions and the innovation engine for next-generation sequencing platforms and applications, accelerating technology breakthroughs and translation to the clinic. This includes the Illumina Accelerator, the world's first business accelerator focused solely on creating an innovation ecosystem for the genomics industry.Aravanis is an experienced entrepreneur and was involved in founding several start-ups in the life sciences and health care. Most recently, he co-founded GRAIL Bio where he served as Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D. At GRAIL, Aravanis led the research, development, operational, and clinical teams developing its multi-cancer early detection test. This test is based on technology which combines high-intensity sequencing of unprecedented breadth and depth with the techniques of modern data science. Through what is believed to be one of the largest clinical study programs ever pursued in genomic medicine, GRAIL is creating vast data sets to develop evidence supporting its products. It is deploying, at scale, the latest tools of data science, including powerful approaches from machine learning such as neural networks. Prior to GRAIL, Aravanis served as Senior Director of R&D for Illumina, Inc., where he developed multiple technologies, including clinical assays for the analysis of RNA and DNA from fixed tissues, whole exome analysis, massively parallel single cell transcriptomics, and liquid biopsy using cell-free nucleic acids. Alex earned BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Physics Minor from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as an MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering, and an MD from Stanford University. He holds more than 30 (pending and issued) patents and numerous peer-reviewed publications. Presentation
Unlocking the Power of Next-Generation Sequencing
The massively parallel sequencing technology known as next-generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized the biological sciences. With its ultra-high throughput, scalability, and speed, NGS enables researchers to perform a wide variety of applications and study biological systems at a level never before possible.Illumina's Chief Technology Officer, Alex Aravanis PhD, MD, presents on the power and potential of next-generation sequencing technology and the opportunities to accelerate innovation in the genomics industry in the clinic and beyond. |
| Plenary Lecture Ⅵ | |
|---|---|
 GwangPyo Ko, Sc. D. Professor at Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea |
Background
Presentation
Multiomics approach for targeting novel microbiome therapeutics against chronic diseases
Recently, there were dramatically increased interests on human microbiome research worldwide. While human ecosystems is maintained through mutualistic relationship between human and microbiota, the effect of gut microbiota and associated molecular mechanisms on metabolic and immunological diseases has been not much studied. We have determined the effects of microbiome and determined the genes and pathways of human gut microbiome using both human populations and animal models. The specific aims of this presentation are 1) to determine and characterize the composition of human microbiome as related to target chronic diseases, 2) to investigate the biomarkers for predicting chronic based on microbiome and associated molecular components. Our data suggest that combination of specific microbiome and associated molecular mechanisms in the gut predicts the incidences of chronic metabolic diseases. Our research will help us to understand the association between human microbiome and metabolic diseases and to provide microbiome-based diagnostics and therapeutics.
|
| Plenary Lecture Ⅶ | |
|---|---|
 Byung-Gee Kim Ph.D. Professor at Seoul National University, School of Chemical and Biological Engineering / Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics / Bio-MAX Institute, Seoul, Korea |
Background
Education:
Presentation
Natural Products Biosynthesis and Their Modifications in the Context of Trends in Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering
In the past 30 years, although many new discoveries and concepts have been developed in the field of biotechnology, development of biocatalysis and protein engineering was recognized as a process development of bio-reaction systems and protein catalysts used in the synthesis of fine chemicals in organic chemistry and bioindustry. As the turn-around time of custom-made biocatalysts development becomes very rapidly shortened due to variety of technology innovations, and diverse applications of biocatalysts in chemical and bio-industry are newly opened, biocatalysis already became a good alternative means to substitute chemical catalysis in the field of organic chemistry, and its coverage and its influence in chemical industry will be rapidly increased and broadly expanded in the near future.In this lecture, first, a short review of development of such protein engineering and in vitro evolution will be presented to understand advances in protein in vitro evolution and mutagenesis during the last 30 years. In the trends of these protein evolutionary studies, our lab has focused on natural products biosynthesis and their modifications using the enzymes involved in natural product biosynthesis reactions, such as oxidoreductases(tyrosinase, reductase, P450 and FAD-dependent monooxygenase), glycosyltransferase and halogenase, and to overcome any problems and hurdles we have met in the studies, always protein engineering and/or evolution were required to improve their desired properties, such as activity, enantioselectivity, substrate specificity, and stability. Here, some examples of related our research activities on synthesis of natural products will be presented: i) isoflavonoids bioconversion(ortho-hydroxylation, oxygenation, isomerization and reductions), ii) human milk oligosaccharide production, and iii) indigoids biosynthesis. Stories of such examples will be in perspectives to evaluate future advances in enzymatic approaches for natural product biosynthesis. |
