From basic biology to industrial biotechnology: Lessons learned through engineering synthetic biological networks and pathways
Event Details
- Date:
- Tuesday, 04 August 2015
- Time:
- 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
- Room:
- Large Seminar Room, Level 3
- UQ Location:
- Queensland Bioscience Precinct (St Lucia)
- URL:
- http://www.qaafi.uq.edu.au/from-basic-biology-to-industrial-biotechnology-lessons-learned-through-engineering-synthetic-biological-networks-and-pathways-207533
- Event category(s):
Event Contact
- Name:
- Mr Phil Savory
- Phone:
- 63094
- Email:
- p.savory@uq.edu.au
- Org. Unit:
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
Event Description
- Full Description:
- Dr Vickers research programs span isoprenoid biology, carbohydrate metabolism, and beer systems biology. These diverse are linked though understanding fundamental biology and applying this understanding to industrial bioprocesses to develop sustainable, environmentally friendly practices. This seminar will outline how advanced systems and synthetic biology tools are being used to examine processes such as beer brewing, and build molecular tools for biomass utilisation and production of industrially-useful biochemicals in the isoprenoid family. Isoprenoids (a.k.a. terpenes/terpenoids) are an extremely large and diverse group of natural compounds with myriad biological functions, including roles in photosynthesis, respiration, signaling, membrane biosynthesis, and as pigments, hormones, virulence factors, vitamins, etc. Isoprenoids also have many industrial uses, ranging from specialized applications (e.g. anti-cancer and anti-malarial pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals) through to bulk chemicals (e.g., food colours, fragrances, rubbers, agricultural chemicals, and fuel replacements). However, extracting these compounds from natural sources or chemically synthesizing them is often unfeasible. We are using metabolic engineering to re-design microbes for industrial isoprenoid production. Systems and synthetic biology tools are also being applied to understand both the biological roles of isoprenoids and the regulation of carbon flux through isoprenoid pathways. Understanding flux regulation is a pre-requisite for engineering economically-competitive microbial cell factories for isoprenoid production.
Directions to UQ
- Google Map:
-
- Directions:
- St Lucia Campus | Gatton campus.
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