Synthetic biology holds the collective vision of a future where food, manufacturing, and medicine are all made possible by biologically-sourced raw materials. It’s no surprise, then, that researchers from all over the globe are working furiously to learn how microbes can be made to build the molecules most needed by industry in a cost-efficient manner. At the Seventh International Meeting on Synthetic Biology, a diverse group of synthetic biologists will come together to discuss Building with Biology and the steps being taken to enable a future powered by bioproduction.The Building with Biology panel will include Chen Yang, a professor at the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology within the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her lab’s research is dedicated to understanding microbial metabolic networks in terms of the interactions between genes, proteins, and metabolites. In particular, Professor Yang’s team develops techniques for quantifying and analyzing metabolic flux. They also study the metabolic networks of cyanobacteria and engineer bioproduction pathways that convert atmospheric carbon directly into valuable industrial chemical precursors. Her approach combines traditional molecular biology techniques with mathematical modeling and comparative genomics for reconstruction of metabolic pathways.Director of Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform at the Commonwealth Scientific Investigation and Research Organization, Claudia Vickers, as well as a Group Leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Queensland. Her research focuses on studying and improving natural microbial pathways for producing isoprenoids, which represent precursors for a number of pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial chemicals. Professor Vickers’ goal is to streamline biogenic isoprenoid pathways in yeast. E. coli, and cyanobacteria by maximizing the amount of carbon channeled into these pathways and minimizing the amount of carbon that is wasted in competing pathways.Xiaoxiaia Xia is a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Research in her lab is centered on engineering microbial metabolic pathways for the purpose of bioproduction, including optimizing the production of recombinant proteins and other high-value organic chemicals in E. coli. A great deal of her work has focused on the generation of recombinant spider silk from metabolically engineered E. coli, which she demonstrated in a 2010 publication. Professor Xia also studies the extracellular proteome and protein secretion, which are of critical importance when it comes to harvesting the fruits of a successful bioproduction scheme.Assistant Professor at Seoul National University, Ji-Sook Hahn, her lab investigates and engineers metabolic pathways in yeast and E. coli for the production of high-value chemicals and chemical precursors. From increasing metabolic rate by upregulating the intake of glucose molecules to improving microbial tolerance levels for the target molecules of bioproduction, Professor Hahn’s research looks to improve the success of biosynthetic pathways from every possible angle. Her toolbox combines directed evolution with rational design of microbes and she has achieved some of the highest titers and yields ever reported for certain biogenic chemicals.Akihiko Kondo is the leader of the Cell Factory Research Team in the Biomass Engineering Research Division of the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science. He is also a full professor and director of the Biorefinery Center at Kobe University. At RIKEN, his team’s work is dedicated explicitly to reducing the cost of bioproduction in order to make its outputs competitive with petroleum-based alternatives. Although one of his major objectives involves production of ethanol from real biomass, Professor Kondo’s research has expanded to include bioproduction of other fuel types and industrial chemicals across a variety of organisms, including yeast, E. coli, and fungi. Mark your calendar for June 14th at 9:00 AM for Session 4 , Building with Biology to hear how these diverse group of speakers are bringing biology to market.