EuroSCOPE Final Report - European Science Foundation

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4. Networking and Dissemination ActivitiesThe first achievements in synthetic biology includethe design and implementation of synthetic geneticcircuits, the design of novel biochemical pathways forthe production of valuable pharmaceuticals, and thede novo synthesis of bacterial genomes. The ultimateambition of the field is to extend the mastery of biologicalengineering to systems complex enough to deal withgrand challenges such as the design, synthesis anddelivery of novel therapeutic treatments, affordable andprecise diagnosis of diseases, novel routes to vaccines,production of liquid transportation fuels, bioremediationof pollutants, biocompatible carbon sequestration,and efficient manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals andbiochemicals.The projects that are considered for funding will startin early 2010.More information can be found at:www.esf.org/eurosynbio4.3 Research Networking Programme:The Euroglycoscience Forum(EUROGLYCOFORUM)Glycoscience is a term used to describe all the areaswhich relate to complex carbohydrates, their synthesisand biosynthesis, analysis, function and applications.Glycoscience is a rapidly expanding and exciting fieldthat is relevant to many areas of chemistry, biology andmedicine. A significant number of European laboratoriesare considered to be at the forefront of current glycoscienceresearch, and the current programme aims tostrengthen that position. Whilst important discoverieshave been made in the individual disciplines of glycoscience,it is generally recognised that future successeswill rely on large interdisciplinary consortia which havesufficient tools and resources to address the complexquestions that lie ahead.From our current studies it is apparent that a trueunderstanding of the role of glycosylation in complex biologicalsystems will rely on close collaboration betweenbiophysical scientists skilled in glycoscience technologiesand scientists working in cell biology and medicine. Thenuclei of such consortia have already formed in Europeand the current proposal is to foster such efforts andprovide an umbrella organisation, the EuroglycosciencesForum, that will establish a cohesive research landscapefor glycoscientists on which to build future successes.The Euroglycosciences Forum will aim to provide convenientand active links between the leading researchgroups in the field through a series of meetings andworkshops. It will also promote the establishment ofkey resources for glycoscientists, such as bioinformaticstools, microarray technologies, chemical synthesisof glycans, novel methods in structural analysis of carbohydrates,enzymology of proteins involved in glycanbiosynthesis and metabolism, and molecular and cellbiology of carbohydrate-binding proteins. Availability ofthese resources will ultimately lead to wider applicationssuch as carbohydrate-based therapeutics, diagnosticsand materials both in academia and industry.There are quarterly calls for proposals, the 2 ndEUROGLYCOFORUM Call for Proposals having the nextdeadline of 1 March 2010.For more information, please seewww.esf.org/glycoscience4.4 Other activities: Bacell consortiumBacell is the umbrella organisation supporting Bacillusresearch in Europe. The Bacillus bacterium has beenused for more than 50 years as a model to understandthe detailed functions of individual cellular components.As a result, it is one of the best understood of all livingorganisms. Each component has a specific role and locationwithin the cell. The next challenge is to determinethe precise location of the individual components andto model how they interact with each other and theirsurroundings to form a successful living organism. Inaddition to its importance to basic science, Bacilluscontributes to the health and wealth of society and theenvironment.Through Bacell, the BACELL EuroSCOPE partners areconnected to other European research programmes fundedby the European Commission, such as Tat machine,StaphDynamics, BaSysBio, Bacell SysMo and TranSys.For more information, please seewww.bacell.euFigure 6. Scope of the Bacell activities.Source: http://www.bacell.eu/16 | EuroSCOPE – Science of Protein Production for Functional and Structural Analysis
4.6 Upcoming Research Conferences• ESF Research ConferenceBacterial Networks 2010Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain, 4-9 September 2010• ESF-EMBO SymposiumMolecular Perspectives on Protein-ProteinInteractionsSant Feliu de Guixols, Spain, 21-26 November 2010Figure 7. Logo of the ConferenceInformation will be made available in due course onhttp://www.esf.org/activities/esf-conferences/4.5 Research Conference:ESF-UB Conference in BiomedicineEuropean Conference on Synthetic Biology (ECSB) IISant Feliu de Guixols, Spain, 29 March – 3 April 2009Two communities are emerging within synthetic biology,namely top-down – i.e., knocking out or modifying functionsof existing cells, and bottom-up – i.e., constructionof artificial systems from first principles, protocells, etc.The aim of this conference was to generate new vigorousinteractions between the disciplines that impingeon (and contribute to) Synthetic Biology, and to bringtogether in the same context top-down and bottomupresearchers. Some of the topics presented at theconference were: DNA sequencing and synthesis, chemicaland biological networks, computational techniques(modelling, data mining, optimisation) for synthetic biology,minimal genomes, evolution (natural, directed andsimulated), origins of life, biological systems, cell cyclesand circuits, and infrastructures for synthetic biology,minimal cells.For more information, please seehttp://www.esf.org/activities/esf-conferences.htmlEuroSCOPE – Science of Protein Production for Functional and Structural Analysis | 17
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