Time: Jan.28,2019
Publisher: News Center
The second International Symposium on Synthetic Biology of Natural Products was held at JNU on Jan. 14 and 15, attracting around 200 researchers from the universities and research institutions in China, Japan, the United States and Germany.
In the opening speech, Prof. Abe Ikuro of the University of Tokyo, who initiated the symposium, said natural products had made a significant contribution to human development. With the rapid advancement of DNA sequencing and biological information technology in this century, he said, the once-passive discovery of natural products has been transformed into proactive exploration with the help of gene information. This symposium provided a platform of communication and discussion for researchers of natural products in both China and Japan. In addition, Abe said, this symposium created a favorable environment for experts in both countries to jointly overcome technical difficulties and realize the goal of producing natural products through artificially designed bio-synthetic methods.
 

（Prof. Abe Ikuro delivering the opening speech）

Then JNU Vice President Ye Wencai extended a warm welcome to experts and researchers attending the symposium and introduced the basic situation of JNU’s College of Pharmacy, its sponsor.
 

(Vice President Ye speaking)
As Chinese organizer of the symposium, Prof. Yao Xinsheng，the academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and honorary president of the College of Pharmacy, gave the first theme report of the symposium. He introduced the development of chemistry research on natural products from traditional extraction, isolation and structural determination to modern biosynthesis in accordance with his more than 60 years’ experience in natural product research.
 

(Academician Yao making a thematic report)
 

 (The symposium venue)
Forty-five experts gave academic exchange reports covering such topics as biosynthetic pathways; catalytic mechanisms of enzymes; and enzyme structures and functions.
The seminar was sponsored by Chinese Medicine and Natural Medicine Institute of Jinan University.