CSP - 1st European Congress on Cell-Free Synthetic Biology
Abstract
The 1st European Congress on Cell-Free Synthetic Biology, intends to bring together an interdisciplinary group of researchers from a broad range of scientific fields to i) present the current state-of-the-art in cell-free synthetic biology, ii) define the future direction of the field, and iii) to serve as an environment for sharing ideas and engaging in new collaborations.Cell-free synthetic biology is a young but burgeoning sub-field of synthetic biology and has seen rapid and exciting progress in recent years. As the name implies, cell-free synthetic biology involves the implementation and characterization of biological systems in a cell-free environment and thus builds on advances in synthetic biology and classical biochemistry. Cell-free synthetic biology enables the precise and quantitative characterization of complex biological systems in a well-defined and controllable environment. Because of these and other advantages, cell-free synthetic biology will provide fundamental insights into biological network structure and function, including network robustness. This platform provides the potential to advance technologies that will facilitate the evolution of advanced materials, improve continuum of care with the development of new biomedical applications, and enable bio-inspired sensor engineering. These examples illustrate how convening the world~s best scientists to focus on this topic area will advance the field and subsequently enhance warfighter health and survivability as well as improved capabilities in autonomy and unmanned systems. In addition, cell-free synthetic biology has the potential to become a powerful approach for the rapid prototyping of engineered biological systems, and has recently been shown to be applicable to the development of cheap, yet sophisticated molecular diagnostics. Although cell-free synthetic biology is still in its infancy, recent progress in the field indicates that it will have significant impact on the Life Sciences and Society in the long-term.GENERAL TOPIC, STATE OF THE ART AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCECell-free synthetic biology is an inherently interdisciplinary field, requiring contributions from biologists, engineers, and computer scientists. The three conference chairs (Prof. Maerkl, Prof. Murray, and Prof. Freemont) represent these fields as well as three different geographic locations (Continental Europe, USA, and the UK). Please see the attached CVs for more information on the three conference chairs. We are confident that we will be able to bring together the world~s leading scientists in the various fields mentioned below.Cell-free synthetic biology relies on a number of methodological and technological advances and is applicable to a broad range of biological problems. We therefore propose to invite approximately 20 leaders in the various fields and allow ~44 students and post-doctoral scholars to participate. We can thus cover a broad spectrum of topics that will foster scientific exchange, while allowing a large number of junior researchers to participate at the conference. Furthermore, the conference proposed here represents the first international conference dedicated to the topic of cell-free synthetic biology, and we are planning to institute this conference on an annual basis in Europe in consequent years. Having the first of these meetings take place under the umbrella of the Congressi Stefano Franscini is an outstanding starting point for establishing a world-renowned conference in the field of cell-free synthetic biology.This will be the first international meeting dedicated to Cell-free Synthetic Biology. Synthetic Biology meetings have generally devoted some sessions to cell-free synthetic biology, such as the SEED meetings (http://synbioconference.org/2015) or a recent Gordon Research Conference (https://www.grc.org/programs.a
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 05, 2017
- Source ID
- N629091712057
Entities
People
- Sebastian Maerkl
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy