The Synthetic Biology in Pharma Conference 2010 organised jointly by avakado conferences and www.synthetic-biology.info is the first conference designed to bring together pharmaceutical industry experts developing products for different disease indications and leading synthetic biology pioneers in order to create a forum for interchange to identify future high-potential, high-value projects in the pharmaceutical product pipeline. Download speakers and abstract overview here(.pdf).

 

The conference also covers applications of synthetic biology in medical development, including in drug delivery systems, recombinant antibodies and medical applications based on synthetic biology approaches leading to personalized medicine.

 

Over the past few years, in a highly active technology-driven period, synthetic biology has been shaped by a small community discussing the potential of new concepts in molecular design adapted from ideas that were first developed in the fields of electronic engineering and IT.

 

The Synthetic Biology in Pharma conference is intending to mark the starting point of a market-driven period for synthetic biology in pharmaceutical and medical supply applications, with the intention of establishing long-term relationships in these areas for all conference participants.

 

Synthetic biology applications are being developed for the design of modulated living systems. These can be specialised cells for biosensing, or highly artificial biosyntheses for high-yield production of xenobiologics, biopharmaceutical compounds, fine chemicals for use in vivo or in vitro, or biofuels. In addition in molecular medical Synthetic Biology concepts do have a very high potential for the development of specifically designed functional therapies. At least only bio-production and synthetic molecular biomedicine has the potential for providing therapeutical strategies with the individualized components e.g. HLA compatibility or immune-tolerance. Efficient and precisely targeting drug delivery systems can also be expected to come to deployment as well as tightly regulated genetic systems designed and determined on highly specific tasks like killing viruses serving as blood substitutes or removing molecular debris in organs like the brain. Artificial organs might substitute for defect natural endocrinal functions like the pancreas.

 

It became clear that the new technologies based on synthetic genes, standardisation of functional molecular parts, synthesis of DNA (the information carrier) and software developed for ‘artificial genetic devices and systems’ had the potential to revolutionise the development of many new applications in bioproduction for many different markets.

 

Due to this potential for a new bio-based industry, carbon dioxide neutral technologies based on synthetic biology can be the key problem solvers and key drivers in the development of new applications in clean bioindustry. However in addition, the impact of synthetic biology on the production of biopharmaceuticals and in personalised medicine is also one of the key drivers in the development of new technologies, one such example being the development of arthimisinine by US biotechnology company Amyris.