Interagency Conference on Metabolic Engineering

This conference was held at the National Science Foundation (NSF) on January 31, 2003.

Introduction

An emerging approach to the understanding and utilization of metabolic processes is Metabolic (or pathway) Engineering (ME). As the name implies, ME is the targeted and purposeful alteration of metabolic pathways found in an organism in order to better understand and utilize cellular pathways for chemical transformation, energy transduction, and supramolecular assembly. ME typically involves the redirection of cellular activities by the rearrangement of the enzymatic, transport, and regulatory functions of the cell through the use of recombinant DNA and other techniques. Much of this effort has focused on microbial organisms, but important work is being done in cell cultures derived from plants, insects, and animals. Since the success of ME hinges on the ability to change host metabolism, its continued development will depend critically on a far more sophisticated knowledge of metabolism than currently exists.

This knowledge includes conceptual and technical approaches necessary to understand the integration and control of genetic, catalytic, and transport processes. While this knowledge will be quite valuable as fundamental research, per se, it will also provide the underpinning for many applications of immediate value.

The purpose of the fifth annual Interagency Conference on Metabolic Engineering was to:

Highlight Metabolic Engineering accomplishments at each of the participating Agencies that have resulted from the Metabolic Engineering Working Group Activities.

Educate Federal agency personnel on emerging Metabolic Engineering issues.

Discuss Future Directions for Metabolic Engineering.

Conference Agenda

January 31, 2003 -- Room 110

8:00 Coffee and refreshments.

8:30 Welcoming and Introductory Remarks
                    MARY CLUTTER, Chair, Subcommittee on Biotechnology
                    FRED HEINEKEN, Chair, Metabolic Engineering Working Group -- Opening Presentation

9:00  Presentation of NSF Highlights and Introduction of Bernhard Palsson -- Neil Hoffman

Genome-scale Analysis for New Metabolic Engineering Procedures by Bernhard Palsson [Abstract]

9:40  Presentation of DOD Highlights and Introduction of Jay Keasling -- Harold Bright

Strategies for Metabolic Engineering of Environmental Microorganisms by Jay D. Keasling [Abstract]

10:20 Break

10:40 Presentation of NIH Highlights and Introduction of Claudia Schmidt-Dannert -- Warren Jones

Cell Factory Engineering Using Combinatorial and In Vitro Evolution Strategies by Claudia Schmidt-Dannert [Abstract]

11:20  Presentation of USDA Highlights and Introduction of Lonnie Ingram -- Chavonda Jacobs-Young

Metabolic Engineering of Escherichia coli W3110 for Redox Neutral and Oxidized Products by L.O. Ingram [Abstract]

12:00  Lunch

1:00  Presentation of NIST Highlights and Introduction of Hal Monbouquette -- Travis Gallagher

Aromatic Biosynthesis in Archaeoglobus fulgidus by Hal Monbouquette [Abstract]

1:40 Presentation of NASA Highlights and Introduction of Vassily Hatzimanikatis -- Steve Davison

Mathematical and Computational Analysis of Central Carbon Pathways for Efficient Metabolic Engineering by Vassily Hatzimanikatis [Abstract]

2:20  Break

2:40  Presentation of DOE Highlights and Introduction of Imran Shah -- John Houghton

Computational Elucidation of Metabolic Pathways by Imran Shah [Abstract]

3:20  Presentation of EPA Highlights and Introduction of Terry Papoutsakis -- Mark Segal

Stress, Solvent Production and Tolerance by E. Terry Papoutsakis [Abstract]

4:00 The MetaCyc Database and the Pathway Tools Software: Resources for Metabolic Engineering by Peter D. Karp

4:15 Future Directions for Metabolic Engineering

4:25 Closing Remarks

4:30 Adjourn

Invited Grantees

Vassily Hatzimanikatis
Interdepartmental Biological Sciences Program
Northwestern University
2-100 Hogan Hall
2205 Tech Drive
Evanston, Illinois 60208-3500
tel: 847.491.5357
vassily@northwestern.edu

Lonnie O. Ingram
Dept. of Microbiology and Cell Science
University of Florida
Bldg. 981 Museum Road
Box 110700
Gainesville, FL 32611
tel: 352.392.8176
fax: 352.846.0969
ingram@ufl.edu

Jay D. Keasling
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of California
411 A Latimer, Chem E
Berkeley, CA 94720-1462
tel: 510.642.4862
fax: 510.643.1228
keasling@socrates.berkeley.edu

Harold G. Monbouquette
Department of Chemical Engineering
UCLA
Box 951592
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1592
tel: 310.825.8946
fax: 310.206.4107
harold@seas.ucla.edu

Bernhard D. Palsson
Department of Bioengineering
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093
tel: 858.534.5668
palsson@ucsd.edu

Elefterios T. Papoutsakis
Chemical Engineering & Biochemistry
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL 60208
tel: 847.491.7455
fax: 847.491.3728
e-paps@nwu.edu

Claudia Schmidt-Dannert
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics
University of Minnesota
256 Gortner Laboratory
1479 Gortner Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108
tel: 612.625.5782
fax: 612.625.5780
schmi232@tc.umn.edu

Imran Shah
Preventive Medicine and Biometrics
University of Colorado HSC
4200 East Ninth Avenue
Box C245
Denver, CO 80262
tel: 303.315.7222
fax: 303.315.3183
imran.shah@uchsc.edu