 |
| About Bioline | All Journals | Testimonials | Membership | News |
|
||||||
|
||||||
Volume 8 Number 2, March/April 1998, pp. 106-111 CONFERENCE REPORTS
Code Number:AU98020
"Biotechnology - Food and Health for the 21st Century" - 14th Australasian Biotechnology Conference
This conference, right from its initiation 18 months ago, was destined to be successful. The Organising Committee developed an excellent and informative conference website, and chose a topical theme for the conference. An early decision to target a strong bio-business stream in the conference proved an outstanding success. The organisers released a detailed conference programme for intending registrants over a month in advance of the meeting, thus enhancing attendance. They were rewarded with over 360 participants at the conference - a record number for a conference held outside the Melbourne - Sydney big city hub. They aimed high with their choice of eminent scientists of international reputation as plenary speakers. All speakers were excellent and in all cases their plenaries were extremely well presented and stimulating. The plenaries were held in the historic Town Hall at Glenelg, opposite the main conference venue at the Stamford Grand Hotel, Glenelg. Other highlights of the conference included extensive presentations by the European Commission to encourage research network opportunities between Australian scientists and EU research programmes; and presentations by the Canadian biotechnology industry organisations on their re-structuring and servicing of Canadian biotechnology initiatives, together with the opportunities for Australia and Canada to work together. These discussions on international cooperation were supported by a presentation by Dr Joe Hlubucek on mechanisms offered by Austrade in California and other parts of the USA for assistance with export opportunities and partnerships between Australian biotechnology companies and their US counterparts. Plenaries Professor Adrienne Clarke, Lt Governor of Victoria, previously Chair of CSIRO - Keynote Plenary: Nancy Millis Oration, sponsored by CSL Ltd. Mr G. Steve Burrill, Burrill & Company, USA (of Ernst & Young Report fame) - Biotech '98 - an update (Paper to be published in our next issue) Dr Ian Wilmut, Roslin Institute, UK (of `Dolly' cloned sheep fame) - Reproductive technologies Sir Gus Nossal, President, Australian Academy of Science, previously Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne - Biotechnology and the challenge of global immunisation Prof. Ko Shimamoto, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan - Molecular biology and biotechnology of rice Dr Amanda Walmsley, Boyce Thompson Institute, USA, previously of University of Queensland, Brisbane - Transgenic plants as vaccine vectors Prof. Pam Russell, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney - Prostate cancer gene therapy (full paper published in this issue) Dr Robert Devlin, Fisheries and Oceans, Canada - Production and evaluation of transgenic salmonids for aquaculture (full paper to be published in our next issue) Prof. Peter Colman, Director, Biomolecular Research Institute, Melbourne (known for his invention of the new influenza vaccine being developed by Biota, Glaxo and partners) - Drug discovery by design Prof. Gary Sayler, University of Tennessee, USA - Innovations and broad horizons for environmental biotechnology (paper to be published in our next issue) Prof. Grant Sutherland, Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide - Genomics Chris Franco (Organising Committee), Pak-Lam Yu (New Zealand) and Nick McClure (Organising Committee; ABA Vice-President John Smeaton, Senator Amanda Vanstone and ABA President Joan Dawes; Dr Ian Wilmut; Lunch in the trade exhibition area; Vice-President John Smeaton and others in 'limbo' mode. II International Symposium on Bioprocess Engineering and VII Mexican Congress on Biotechnology and Bioengineering Mazatlan, Mexico - 8-12 September 1997 As we approach the 21st Century, biotechnology has certainly emerged as one of the most innovative, vigorous and promising disciplines, in both academic and industrial settings. This vitality has been the result of the exciting new applications of what is considered "Modern Biotechnology", together with the consolidation of "Traditional Biotechnology". It is in this area where bioprocess engineering has played a key role, contributing towards bringing the exciting new discoveries of molecular and cellular biology into the applied sphere, and in maintaining established processes, some centuries-old, efficient and essential for the industry of today. It was with all this in mind, that the International Symposium on Bioprocess Engineering was initiated, organized by the Institute of Biotechnology of the National University of Mexico. The first of the series was held in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in June 1994. As a result of this first Symposium, the book Advances in Bioprocess Engineering (Kluwer Academic, 1994) was published. On September 1997, the second of the series was held in Mazatlan, Mexico. On this occasion, the Symposium was developed jointly with the VII Mexican Congress on Biotechnology and Bioengineering, organized (biennially) by the Mexican Society for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (MSBB). This Society, the most important in the field in Mexico and probably unique in Latin America, has nearly 700 affiliates (60 % professionals and 40 % students) and has been active since 1982. All members of this Society are accepted by an Admission Committee, based upon a curricular evaluation of candidates. MSBB publishes (in Spanish, quarterly) the journal BioTecnologia and books such as Fronteras en Biotecnologia y Bioingenieria (Frontiers in Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 1995) and the Book of the Year, the latter containing a comprehensive data base of all its members. The MSBB sponsors the Carlos Casas Campillo Award, to recognize outstanding work carried out in Mexico by young biotechnologists. Fascinating advances in many fields, such as instrumentation, computation,molecular and cellular biology, just to mention a few, have determined more than ever the inherent multidisciplinary characteristic of modern biochemical engineering. Likewise, the penetration of biotechnology into new areas, such as mining, the marine environment and soil bioremediation, has opened up unexpected horizons for the application of biochemical engineering principles. All these novel developments and application areas, along with increasing constraints in costs, product quality, and regulatory and environmental considerations, have placed the biochemical engineer at the forefront of new challenges. The presentations in this Second International Symposium on Bioprocess Engineering precisely reflected the multidisciplinary nature of the field, where new and traditional areas of application are nurtured by a better understanding of fundamental phenomena and by the utilization of novel techniques and methodologies. Invited presentations, which will be published as the book Advances in Bioprocess Engineering II (Kluwer Academic, 1998), included talks on marine (R. Zilinskas, College Park, USA) and mining biotechnology (R. Lawrence, Vancouver, Canada), which made evident that the application of bioprocess engineering in these areas is still incipient, but could potentially have a decisive contribution. Two speakers (P. Monsan, Toulouse, France and R. Vazquez-Duhalt, Cuernavaca, Mexico) talked about the application of enzymes in relatively new areas with promising futures: the catalysis of synthesis reactions and the degradation of recalcitrant pollutants. Bioprocess engineering challenges in the increasingly important area of animal cell culture were discussed as well by D.I.C. Wang (Boston, USA) and O.T. Ramirez (Cuernavaca, Mexico). Likewise, plant biotechnology could potentially be exploited for the production of important metabolites; thus, examples of such products and key associated methodologies were presented by R. Quintero (Cuernavaca, Mexico) and L. Herrera-Estrella (Irapuato, Mexico). An immediate consequence of the application of bioprocess engineering is in the optimization of processes (with native and recombinant microorganisms), subjects that were addressed by F. Sineriz (Tucuman, Argentina) and M. Griot (Basel, Switzerland). J. Westpheling (Athens, USA) spoke about the cloning and expression of industrial enzymes. The basic understanding and implications for bioprocess engineering of the effect of hydrodynamics in biological materials and of the important unit operation of spray drying were discussed by C. Thomas (Birmingham, UK) and G.F. Gutierrez (Mexico City, Mexico), respectively. Novel concepts for on-line monitoring of intracellular properties were reviewed and their utility in bioreactor operation were discussed by R. Mutharasan (Philadelphia, USA). In addition, a presentation (by G. Viniegra, Mexico City, Mexico) dealing with fermentations in solid substrates provided a view of an important and complex area, where still much needs to be developed from the biochemical engineering perspective. Through the description of all these specific cases, the Symposium illustrated how bioprocess engineering is facing the new challenges of the turn of the century. About 700 people attended the Symposium and Congress, which took place inMazatlan, Mexico, in early September 1997, and consisted of invited lectures, round tables, submitted papers and a commercial exhibition. Papers (465 in total, 309 in posters), representing 18 countries, were accepted for presentation in the Symposium/Congress in thirteen subject areas and extended abstracts were published in a comprehensive Congress/Symposium Proceedings. The papers presented by Mexican authors totalized 347. This is an indication of the high level of activity of biotechnology throughout Mexico. Unfortunately, the participation of the industrial sector was marginal. The very interesting scientific program, together with the attractions of Mazatlan, made this Symposium/Congress a very enjoyable and fruitful one. Let us hope that this Symposium, and the book, contribute towards achieving a basic goal of Bioprocess Engineering: turning biotechnology possibilities into biotechnology realities. Let us also hope that the rich biotechnology activity in Mexico can be capitalized on by industry, to finally contribute to the economic development of the Country. Enrique Galindo, PhD
Copyright 1998 Australian Biotechnology Association Ltd. |
| |||||||||
