Biocat2010-- 5th International Congress on Biocatalysis

Time: Aug 31-Sep. 4, 2010

Hamburg University of Technology, Germany

Scientific Program

The meeting will focus on the presentation of the latest results in the rapidly growing field of biocatalysis. Plenary lectures will be given by guest speakers in the morning, and short oral presentations and poster sessions will be selected for the afternoon sessions. Substantial time will be provided for poster presentations and informal discussions. 

Invitations

Since 2002 we have been organizing the biocat conference series, which focuses on the rapidly evolving fields of biocatalysis and industrial biotechnology. The preceeding International Congresses on Biocatalysis held in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 in Hamburg, Germany attracted each more than 350 participants from over 35 countries.

The successful concept of biocat is due to an interdisciplinary approach integrating the know-how of well acknowledged biologists, biochemists, chemists and engineers from academia and industry.

On behalf of the Scientific and Organizing Committees, it is a great pleasure and honor to me to invite scientists from all over the world to the 5th International Congress on Biocatalysis 2010 (biocat2010) to be held August 29 - September 2, 2010 at the Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany.

This meeting, which will be supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will provide an ideal forum for the exchange of information between specialists from both the academic and industrial sectors._We will take care of a stimulating and open scientific atmosphere to foster the development of new collaborations. Industrial Biotechnology, making use of enzymes and whole cells, will play a significant role in the sustainable development of future key technologies such as biorefineries. The major topics to be addressed are:

• Enzyme discovery, recombinant production, evolution and design
• Structure-function analysis and modelling
• Enzymatic and whole cell biotransformations
• Bioprocess engineering and downstream processing
• Biorefinery and sustainable development of industrial processes

We are looking forward to welcoming you in Hamburg, an exciting and cosmopolitan city, and to share a successful and enjoyable meeting with you.

Invited Speakers

The following speakers have accepted our invitation to biocat2010:

Eric Althoff , Arzeda Corp., USA
“Robust computational enzyme design”

Ed Bayer , Weizmann Institute, Israel
"From natural to synthetic cellulosomes: Synergistic biocatalysis of plant cell walls"

Per Berglund , KTH Stockholm, Sweden
“Omega-Transaminases – Tailored for chiral amine synthesis”

Andreas Bommarius , University Georgia, USA
“Optimization of beta-lactam hydrolases with respect to stability and substrate specificity”

Uwe Bornscheuer , University of Greifswald, Germany
“Protein engineering by in silico analysis”

Nediljko Budisa , MPI Martinsried, Germany
"Synthetic biology in biocatalyis"

Dave Estell , Genencor, USA

Kurt Faber , University of Graz, Austria
“Characterisation, cloning and biocatalytic application of the first inverting sec-Alkylsulfatase”

David Hogsett , Mascoma Corp., USA

Martin Keller , Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA
“BioEnergy Science Center: The way to a sustainable bioenergy industry”

Byung-Gee Kim , University of Seoul, South Korea
“Vitual screening of PLP dependent enzyme and its application”

Joel Kreps , Verenium, USA
“Recent advances in cellulosic ethanol technologies”

Oliver May , DSM, The Netherlands
"Impact of process and enzyme development for production of chiral amines and other pharma intermediates"

Magali Remaud-Simeon , University of Toulouse, France
“Integrating enzyme dynamics in protein design to generate transglycosidases specifically adapted for chemo-enzymatic strategies of molecular glycodiversification”

Gill Stephens , COE Biocatalysis Manchester, UK
“Ionic liquids in redox biocatalysis”

Chris Savile , Codexis, USA
“Efficient catalyst optimization for practical processes”

Thomas Schäfer , Novozymes, Denmark

Erick Strauss , University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
“Application of the Coenzyme A biosynthetic enzymes in the biocatalytic production of CoA”

Oliver Thum , Evonik, Germany
"Improving enzyme long-term stability by preparation of silicone composites"

Stefan Verseck  , Cognis, Germany

"Application of lipid biotechnology in the production of specialty chemicals"  

Topics

1. Screening, Enzyme discovery, evolution and design

• High-Throughput-Screening
• DNA chip technology
• Environmental genetics
• Integrated genomics
• Bioinformatics
• Directed evolution and gene shuffling

2. Structure-function analysis and modelling

• Mechanisms of enzyme stabilization
• Proteomics
• Crystal structures

3. Efficient systems for recombinant enzyme production

• Expression systems in bacteria archaea and yeasts
• Overexpression in industrial hosts
• DNA chip technology for the optimization of enzyme production

4. Biotransformation

• Metabolic engineering
• Biotransformation with genetically modified cells
• Biocatalysis under non-naturalconditions (e.g. organic solvents)
• Reaction sequences

5. Bioprocess engineering

• Batch, fed-batch and continuous fermentation technology
• Immobilization of microorganisms and enzymes
• Downstream-processing

6. Biorefinery

• Biocatalysts in pharmaceutical, food, textile, detergent and paper industries
• Biocatalysis in environmental and waste management
• Green chemistry