Title：Opening Pandora’s Box 

Speaker：Lars Nielsen，Professor & Chair of Biological Engineering (Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland, Brisbane Qld 4072, Australia) 　　   

Time:10：00,March 19, 2015　　  　

Location: Room C408, Tianjin Institute of Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Science  

Brief introduction of report:

Secondary metabolite processes developed using classical strain and process engineering continue to account for the majority of the biotech market. Convoluted fermentation processes in highly complex media with highly sensitive strains are the rule rather than the exemption. Systems level analysis and design has immense potential to domesticate and refine these processes. Genomics alone has proven unhelpful and simple contrasts fail to capture the complexity of these processes. Recent advances in omics, however, enables the generation of high-density, high-quality data that are truly informative and can guide rational design. In this talk, I will demonstrate how quantitative, multi-omics studies of several clostridia and actinomycetes have been converted into operational models and used for the rational design of superior strain and processes.　　  

Brief CV of speaker:

 Professor Nielsen heads the Systems and Synthetic Biology Group at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. Using thermodynamic principles, novel approaches are developed for the rational design of complex pathways as well as handling complex, transient dynamics in developing tissue. A team of 40 people use these novel approaches in the design of bioprocesses as diverse as the production of blood cells for transfusion and the production of industrial biopolymers. Professor Nielsen also heads the Metabolomics Australia Queensland Node, which is focused on assisting Australian scientists developing flux modeling and analysis approaches for their biological systems of interest.