You can find the ACS Synthetic Biology Conference report here.

Genome sequencing has revealed an enormous biosynthetic capacity for microbial natural products, only a small fraction of which are represented in fermentation-based screens. Synthetic biology tools are being developed to translate the encoded diversity of microbial biosynthetic pathways into novel compounds and natural products. The Synthetic Biology for Natural Products conference will blend 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 (meta)genomic diversity into novel chemical leads for biomedical and agricultural applications will require breakthroughs in design, scale and biologics that currently limit the field.

Key Sessions Include:

- (Meta)Genomics-Enabled Natural Product Discovery
- New Tools for Capturing, Manipulating and Activating SM Pathways
- Advances in Heterologous Expression & Screening Technologies
- Designing Genes and Circuits for Novel Products and Yield Improvement

Target Audience

Synthetic biology scientists and companies looking to learn the latest engineering and synthetic biology technologies for converting small molecule, natural product pathways into novel compounds. Topics discussed during the conference will span the experimental spectrum from molecular biology, microbiology, drug discovery, chemistry and pharmacology, to antibiosis activities against cancer, viral and microbial pathogens.

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 for Natural Products conference will bring together a broad spectrum of research scientists and corporate managers interested in learning about the latest developments in this new field.

Confirmed Speakers

Laurent Daviet (Firmenich SA)
"DEVELOPING BIOSYNTHETIC ROUTES FOR THE MICROBIAL PRODUCTION OF FLAVOR AND FRAGRANCE TERPENES"

Mark Liles (Auburn University)
"RECOVERY AND EXPRESSION OF INTACT SECONDARY METABOLITE BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS FROM A LARGE-INSERT SOIL METAGENOMIC LIBRARY"

William Metcalf (University of Illinois)
"LARGE-SCALE GENOME MINING FOR NATURAL PRODUCT DISCOVERY"

Laura Motta-Mena (Optologix, LLC)
"LITE SWITCH: A LIGHT-INDUCIBLE SYSTEM TO RAPIDLY CONTROL GENE EXPRESSION SPATIALLY AND TEMPORALLY" 

Anne Osbourn (John Innes Centre)
“HARNESSING PLANT METABOLIC DIVERSITY: FROM GENOMES TO GRAM-SCALE QUANTITIES OF NATURAL PRODUCTS AND ANALOGS”

Michael Smanski (University of Minnesota)
"HIGH-THROUGHPUT CONSTRUCTION OF NATURAL PRODUCT BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS"

Christopher Voigt (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
“GENETIC DESIGN FOR DISCOVERY”

Larry Wackett (University of Minnesota)
"DISCOVERY OF β-LACTONE SYNTHETASE ENZYME REVEALS UNEXPECTED OVERLAP IN MICROBIAL HYDROCARBON AND ANTIBIOTIC BIOSYNTHESIS"

Gavin Williams (NC State University)
"SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY APPROACH FOR PRODUCTION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF COMPLEX POLYKETIDES"

Chengcang Charles Wu (Intact Genomics, Inc.)
"ACCESS 1,000,000 FULL-LENGTH SECONDARY METABOLITE BIOSYNTHETIC GENE CLUSTERS AND THEIR NATURAL PRODUCT COMPOUNDS FROM MICROBES AND METAGENOMES"

Huimin Zhao (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
"DISCOVERY AND ENGINEERING OF NOVEL NATURAL PRODUCTS VIA SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY"

David Cane (Brown University)
"NATURE AS STEREOCHEMIST"

Douglas Mitchell (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
"ROUNDING UP BIOSYNTHETIC GENE CLUSTERS WITH RODEO"

Patrick Westfall (Zymergen)
“SYSTEMATIC AND COMPREHENSIVE GENOME ENGINEERING FOR IMPROVED MICROBIAL PERFORMANCE”

Jay Keasling (UC Berkeley)
“ENGINEERED POLYKETIDE SYNTHASES FOR PRODUCTION OF COMMODITY AND SPECIALTY CHEMICALS”

Alexander Wentzel (Sintef)
"NEW BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS FROM ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIAL RESOURCES BY AN INTEGRATED FUNCTIONAL (META)GENOMICS APPROACH"

Kristy Hawkins (Antheia)
"A MICROBIAL PLATFORM FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BENZYLISOQUINOLINE ALKALOIDS"

Cornelia Scheitz (Autodesk)
"NEW FROM AUTODESK:  A HIGH POWERED, CLOUD BASED, OPEN SOURCE CAD TOOL TO DRIVE BIOLOGICAL DESIGN."

Mark Burk (Genomatica, Inc.)
“CELL-FREE BIOSYNTHESIS OF NATURAL PRODUCTS AND ANALOGS”

Colin Harvey (Stanford University)
“SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE AS A PLATFORM FOR THE LARGE-SCALE EXPRESSION OF ORPHAN FUNGAL BIOSYNTHETIC GENE CLUSTERS"

Daisuke Umeno (Chiba University)
“LABORATORY EVOLUTION OF CAROTENOID AND TRITERPENOID PATHWAYS”

Elizabeth Sattely (Stanford University)
“DISCOVERY AND ENGINEERING PLANT CHEMISTRY”

Zhen Kang (Jiangnan University)
“DEVELOPMENT OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY TOOLS FOR IMPROVING NATURAL PRODUCTS BIOSYNTHESIS”

Brian Pfleger (University of Wisconsin Madison)
"ENGINEERING TRANS-ACTING REGULATORS TO DYNAMICALLY CONTROL GENE EXPRESSION IN BACTERIA"

Joerg Bohlmann (University of British Columbia)
"TERPENE FRAGRANCE BIOSYNTHESIS IN TROPICAL SANDALWOOD"

Charles Moore (Novartis Pharma AG)
“TOWARDS A SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY PLATFORM FOR NATURAL PRODUCT DISCOVERY”

Claudia Schmidt-Dannert (University of Minnesota)
"MAPPING THE TERPENOID NATURAL PRODUCTS DIVERSITY OF BASIDIOMYCOTA"

Wolfgang Wohlleben (University of Tübingen)
"ENGINEERING PRECUSOR SUPPLY IN SECONDRY METABOLITE BIOSYNTHESIS"

David L Pompliano (Lodo Therapeutics)
"MICROBIAL METAGENOME-BASED ANTIBACTERIAL DISCOVERY"

Christopher Boddy (University of Ottawa)
“FRONTIERS IN HETEROLOGOUS EXPRESSION OF BACTERIAL NATURAL PRODUCTS”

Jean-Etienne Bassard (University of Copenhagen)
“P450-MEDIATED METABOLISM ORGANIZED AS DYNAMIC METABOLONS - EXAMPLE OF THE DHURRIN METABOLON”

Andriy Luzhetskyy (Saarland University)
“BRIDGING IN SILICO AND IN VIVO FOR THE DISCOVERY OF NEW NATURAL PRODUCTS”

Derek Abbott (Amyris Inc)
"DATA-DRIVEN SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY FOR RAPID ADVANCES IN NATURAL PRODUCTS BIOSYNTHESIS"

Marc Chevrette (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
"COMPUTATIONAL INSIGHTS INTO THE DIVERSE NONRIBOSOMAL PEPTIDE CHEMISTRY OF ACTINOBACTERIA"

Rebecca Goss (University of St Andrews)
"BLENDING SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY AND SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY FOR NATURAL PRODUCT DIVERSIFICATION"

José L. Avalos (Princeton University)
"OPTOGENETIC CONTROL OF ENGINEERED METABOLISMS"

Ina Häuslein (Technical University of Munich)
"USING ISOTOPOLOGUE PROFILING TO DECIPHER BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS AND FLUXES IN PLANTS AND BACTERIA"

Blaine Pfeifer (University at Buffalo)
"HETEROLOGOUS CELLULAR DESIGN FOR COMPLEX NATURAL PRODUCT SUPPORT AND DISCOVERY"

Jason Sello (Brown University)
“EXPLOITING GENETIC REDUNDANCIES IN THE DISCOVERY AND MANIPULATION OF NATURAL PRODUCT BIOSYNTHESIS PATHWAYS”

Michael Burkart (University of California)
“TALES FROM THE INTERFACE: PROTEIN INTERACTIONS IN FAS, PKS, AND NRPS PATHWAYS”

2017 Synthetic Biology of Natural Products Poster Prize

The conference chairs will be awarding 3 poster prizes for the best poster display and presentation. To be in with a chance of winning, submit your poster by 13 January 2017. The winners will receive the following prizes at the Gala dinner: 1st Place $350, 2nd Place $250, 3rd Place $150.