Introduction

Tentative Course Schedule

Lecturers

Registration & Fees

Location

Register for the short course on-line.

This intensive short course is for biologists and engineers interested in state-of-the-art metabolic engineering. It has been specifically designed to respond to the needs of the bioprocessing, environmental and pharmaceutical community by providing a critical review of cell physiology and an analysis of the quantitative and kinetic principles used in physiological studies and metabolic engineering. With genomic technology coming of age, it is critical for scientists and engineers to be acquainted with new tools and ready to face challenges. This course aims to facilitate the entry of those scientists and engineers into genomic technology.

This course integrates a biological knowledge base and engineering analysis to give the audience a new perspective of cellular physiology and metabolic engineering. The instructors are drawn from microbiology, industrial biochemistry, and molecular and environmental biology as well as from chemical engineering. The coverage spans from fundamental biology to the applications of engineering principles. After a concise review of the historical aspects of metabolite production and current issues in microbial physiology, course participants are introduced to the quantitative aspects of the design of pathways and development of genetic strategies for optimizing physiological functions and product formation. Special emphasis is given to the illustration of the dynamics of cellular processes and how they affect the control of metabolic fluxes. Included in this course is an in-depth look at various analytical techniques for pathway characterization, metabolic flux analysis and rate controlling step determination. Combinatorial technology and genomic informatics, which are of increasing importance, are introduced in a down-to-earth, easy-to-grasp format that emphasizes the quantitative aspects of strategy development and data analysis.

Audience

Participants should have a general understanding of cellular or microbial physiology and genetic techniques. This course is an up-to-date intensive review of quantitative physiology for bioprocessing engineers. A wide range of topics on physiology is illustrated, including the roles of regulation, transport, energetics and reaction networks. This course introduces rate processes and other engineering principles to participants from non-engineering disciplines. It applies kinetic analysis to microbial technology and metabolic engineering. For experienced microbial physiologists, this course offers a refreshing view and critical evaluation of various aspects of the technology.

Format

The lectures are accompanied by detailed course notes, a concise distillation of the vast amount of data available in the literature, succinctly packaged and presented for easy comprehension. These notes are a valuable resource for future referencing. Examples drawn from microbial, plant and mammalian systems illustrate the ways that various physiological data can be viewed from different perspectives. Course lectures are supplemented with discussion sessions and a technical computer/video demonstration.

Monday, August 23

Overview of quantitative physiology

Kinetic aspects of gene expression

Genetics of industrial mycelial organisms

Metabolic flux analysis and metabolic control theory

Tuesday, August 24

Combinatorial biology - principles and genetic tools

Overview of genomic analysis

In vitro systems for quantitative physiological studies

Tools in functional genomics

Quantitative analysis in combinatorial synthesis

Bacterial genomics

Wednesday, August 25

Bioinformatics in metabolic engineering

Transport across biological membranes

Pathway design in biocatalysis

Computer demonstrations of data analysis in metabolic engineering and genome analysis

Thursday, August 26

Rational strategies in strain improvement of industrial microorganisms - impact of genomics

Pattern recognition applied to biological systems

(Course adjourns in early afternoon)

Mark D. Distefano, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota

Dr. Distefano received his Ph.D.in Chemistry from MIT and was a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Distefano has pioneered the use of small proteins as hosts for stereoselective organic reactions. His work includes the design of semisynthetic enzymes for the preparation of chiral amino acids, the photochemical attachment of proteins to surfaces for studies of cellular adhesion and guidance, and the design of hydrophobic enzyme inhibitors useful for cancer chemotherapy. These interdiscliplinary projects involve the use of a variety of experimental techniques ranging from site directed mutagensis and chemical modification of proteins to x-ray crystallography, molecular modeling and organic synthesis.

Dr. Distefano's homepage

Wei-Shou Hu, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota

Dr. Hu received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1983. Since then, his research has involved manipulating the metabolic flux of mammalian cells, cytochrome P-450 activities of liver cells, alkaloid production by plant shoots and pentachlorophenol degradation by microbial cells. His early research in metabolic engineering involved augmenting the reaction rate of mercuric ion reduction. Recent work on ß-lactam antibiotic biosynthesis is a success story of the application of engineering analysis to rational design of pathways for relaxing the rate controlling steps. He co-authored the textbook Bioseparations. His work in cell culture involves the kinetic analysis and development of control strategy for fed-batch and perfusion cultures and the cultivation of various differentiated cells. His recent research activities encompass plant micropropagation and tissue engineering in a bioartificial liver.

Dr. Hu's homepage

C. Victor Jongeneel, Director, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne

Dr. Jongeneel received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was an American Leukemia Society post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Bruce Alberts at UCSF. Following a second post-doctoral stint at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, he joined the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, where he worked for ten years on the molecular genetics of tumor necrosis factor and was instrumental in developing a biocomputing infrastructure there. He became the Director of the Information Technology Office of the Ludwig Institute worldwide. His current interests are in bringing sophisticated biocomputing tools to the biologist's workbench and in educating the next generation of biocomputing specialists.

The Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics homepage

 

Vivek Kapur, Director, Advanced Genetic Analysis Center; Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary PathoBiology, University of Minnesota

Dr. Kapur received his Ph.D. from Penn State and was a postdoctoral research associate and junior faculty at Baylor College of Medicine. At the University of Minnesota, Dr. Kapur focuses his research on molecular epidemiology, population genetics and the evolution of microbial pathogens. His group has developed state-of-the-art molecular biology tools and techniques and has made important contributions to the understanding of molecular epidemiology and the evolution of various bacterial and viral pathogens. In addition, Dr. Kapur has initiated a world-leading program for whole genome analysis of veterinary pathogens. The molecular diagnostic tests that have been developed in his laboratory have provided invaluable support to animal agriculture within the U.S. and internationally.
Advanced Genetic Analysis Center web site

 

James Liao, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles

Dr. Liao received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Chemical Engineering. After his doctorate degree, he worked from 1987 to 1989 as a research scientist at the Life Science Research Laboratory of Eastman Kodak Company. Since 1990, he has been on the faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry and Biophysics of Texas A&M University. His group has developed mathematical analyses and used molecular genetic techniques to investigate metabolic control and cell physiology.

Dr. Liao's homepage

 

Lawrence Schook, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs and Director, Food Animal Biotechnology Center, University of Minnesota

Dr. Schook obtained his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at the Wayne State School of Medicine in 1978. After postdoctoral training at the Institute for Clinical Immunology, Berne, Switzerland and the University of Michigan he joined the faculty of the Medical College of Virginia were he was the Director Hybridoma Facility, Massey Cancer Center. He joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign as part of their biotechnolgy initiative in animal genetics and initiated their transgenics effort. After serving as a visiting scientist at the Ludwig Institute, Lausanne, Switzerland, he joined the University of Minnesota in 1993 to initiate an animal genomics effort in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The Food Animal Biotechnology Center homepage

 

David H. Sherman, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, and Biological Process Technology Institute, University of Minnesota

Dr. Sherman received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Columbia University in 1981. After a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT and several years at Biogen Research Corporation, he went to work with David Hopwood in Streptomyces genetics at the John Innes Institute in Norwich, U.K. Since 1990, Dr. Sherman has been at the University of Minnesota where his research has focused on the molecular genetics, biochemistry and chemistry of antibiotic biosynthesis and resistance. This work has led to the elucidation of the function of key enzymes in the construction of a broad array of natural products. In addition, his research group is developing methods for metabolic engineering of biosynthetic pathways for the production of novel secondary metabolites and biopolymers.

Dr. Sherman's homepage

 

James R. Swartz, Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, Stanford University

Dr. Swartz obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering at MIT in 1978. After working briefly as an exchange scholar in the former Soviet Union, he joined Eli Lilly & Co. as a fermentation process development scientist. He then worked at Genentech from 1981 to 1998, where he was the Director for Fermentation Process Development in the crucial stage of Genentech's emergence as a leader in new biotechnology. He rose to the level of staff scientist, the highest scientific position in the company, and devoted his efforts to bioprocess engineering science research. In 1998, he joined the faculty of Stanford University. His research encompasses not only process development and scale-up, but also physiological studies of recombinant microorganisms and in vitro biosynthesis of macromolecules. Dr. Swartz was elected to the National Academy of Engineering this year.

Dr. Swartz's homepage

To guarantee placement in the course, a registration fee of US $1700 must be paid. The course fee includes instruction, an extensive set of course notes, supplemental materials on CD, a reception, and refreshment breaks. A refund, minus a $150 cancellation fee, will be made if the registration is canceled two weeks prior to the course. The course sponsors reserve the right to cancel the course if necessary, in which case a full refund will be made. Registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, and enrollment is limited. Registrations must be received by August 1, 1999. If you have special health or mobility needs, pleased attach a note to your registration.

You can register now!

The short course will be held at the University of Minnesota. A map will be sent with confirmation of registration (or you can look at a map on-line).

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Radisson University Hotel located at 615 Washington Avenue S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55414. Please make your own reservations by contacting the hotel directly. [Telephone: (612) 379-8888, Fax: (612) 379-8682]. Reservations for accommodations should be received by the hotel no later than August 1, 1999. To obtain conference rates ($94 plus tax), be sure to mention that you are participating in the Quantitative Physiology short course.

Ruth Patton
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
University of Minnesota
421 Washington Avenue S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0132
Telephone: (612) 626-0587
Fax: (612) 626-7246
Send email to: acre@cems.umn.edu