Progress 03/01/17 to 02/28/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The Conference was well-attended with 121 participants. Scientists from academia represented 76% of the participants while attendees from government totaled 12% and those from industry totaled 12%. The meeting also attracted a strong mix of young investigators and senior scientists. Students and post-docs accounted for 45.46% of all attendees. Approximately 37% of the participants at the 2017 meeting were women. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for training and professional development included science talks with lively discussions as well as poster sessions. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Research in plant metabolism has advanced rapidly since the advent of molecular biology, and has accelerated with the arrival of the omics/big data era. Engineering based on this research has huge potential to contribute to the global bioeconomy by generating green production platforms for feedstocks and fuels, developing new drugs, and improving food quality. However, actual engineering progress - particularly in commercial terms - has been slow and modest. Projects have usually involved inserting just one or a few transgenes of natural origin into a plant genome, selecting integration events, analyzing outcomes, and - in the best cases - rounds of iteration to address remaining constraints. In many other cases, transgenes had no effects, or unexpected/undesired ones. The design-build-test-learn cycle - the essence of engineering - is poised to turn much faster now that the synthetic biology era is here. Synthetic biology extends the metabolic engineering toolbox by adopting programming concepts such as standardization and modularity, by designing pathways and products that may not exist in nature, and by exploiting computational simulation and DNA writing. Synthetic biology is thus driving a transition to multifaceted engineering of plant metabolism, necessitating an unprecedented level of exchange between multiple academic "silos". This GRC brought together leaders from plant and microbial engineering, synthetic biology, and computational biochemistry, as well as funding agencies. The program: (i) Highlighted how synthetic biology can repurpose metabolism; (ii) Present cutting-edge engineering and discovery research from the health and biobased economy sectors; (iii) Considered plants versus microbes as "chassis organisms"; and (iv) Discussion of synthetic biology-enabled engineering from industry and government perspectives. Poster sessions will catalyze interaction between junior and senior researchers. Short talks were selected from poster abstracts. The conference's collegial atmosphere, deep discussion sessions, and informal gatherings provided a unique forum for cross-disciplinary networking and forge relationships supporting career development.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Conference Program
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