Natural products have the potential to solve global challenges in medicine, agriculture, energy and materials. We have only characterized and harnessed a fraction of this potential, and genome sequencing has revealed an enormous untapped biosynthetic capacity. Synthetic biology tools are being applied to translate this encoded diversity of biosynthetic pathways into their respective compounds; many of which are novel. AI is beginning to be applied to novel prediction and innovative design of natural products. The Synthetic Biology of Natural Products conference will integrate these disciplines with the goal of generating new platforms, tools, and technologies to capture, manipulate and engineer natural product genes and pathways. Converting this vast untapped genomic diversity into novel chemical leads for biomedical, bioproduct and agricultural applications will require breakthroughs in design, scale and biologics that currently limit the field.

Key Sessions

• (Meta)Genomics-Enabled Natural Product Discovery
• Artificial Intelligence Tools and Approaches for Natural Products
• Synthetic Biology to Access and Optimize Natural Products
• Novel Chemistry and Enzymology of Natural Products and their Analogues
• Scaling up Natural Products Development
• Bringing Natural Products to the Market

Target Audience

Synthetic biology researchers and companies looking to learn the latest engineering and synthetic biology technologies for natural product discovery and development. Topics discussed during the conference will span the experimental spectrum from molecular biology, microbiology, chemistry, metabolic engineering, advanced computation, drug discovery, biocontrol and pharmacology; from discovery to commercial development.

Educational Need

A new generation of tools and technologies is needed to convert the vast biodiversity found in natural product pathways into bioactive compounds and treatments. The Synthetic Biology of Natural Products conference will bring together a broad spectrum of researchers from academia, government and industry interested in learning about the latest developments in this new field.

Although the programme has not yet been released, we are able to confirm that the conference should begin no earlier than 14:00 with opening comments on Tuesday 10 March 2026. The conference will conclude no later than 12:30 on Friday 13 March 2026.