Newsletter 03 - What will be discussed at BioVision 2009
What will be discussed at BIoVIsion 2009
Brief descriptions of three sessions planned for BioVision 2009 are given below.
Other sessions will be presented in the next newsletter.
The state of stem cell research: even more promising? - Monday March 9 - 2.00pm
Stem cell research is making headlines. How far away is the promised regenerative medicine?
The isolation of adult and embryonic stem cells and the study of their differentiation mechanisms have opened the doors to a new branch of regenerative medicine. Based on the idea of reconstituting dysfunctional body parts, instead of simply eliminating the cause of their dysfunction or of replacing them through transplant, stem cell research remains one of the most active and promising fields in Life Sciences. Indeed, important results make their way to the media almost every week.
One of the most remarkable recent breakthroughs is the parallel demonstration in 2007, by the teams of S. Yamanaka and A. Thompson, that some adult cells could be returned to an undifferentiated state similar to that of embryonic ones through their genetic reprogramming by the technique known as gene insertion.
The goal of this session is to review the most important progress in basic research accomplished since the 2007 edition of BioVision in the different areas of this fast-growing field, and to assess their significance for the development of regenerative medicine, as well as to explore their potential for other domains, such as cellular toxicology.
Their implications for the ethical dimension of stem cell research will also be discussed. To what extent, in particular, could the Yamanaka and Thompson discovery of the Induced Pluripotent Stem cells (IPS) circumvent the moral and legal difficulties linked to embryonic stem cells, such as human therapeutic cloning, manipulation and destruction of embryo or oocyte donation for non reproductive purposes? Is scientific progress itself clearing up ethical quandaries?
The Unresolved Issue of Malaria - Monday March 9 - 3.30pm
Malaria exacts an enormous toll on lives, medical costs, school absenteeism and in lost work days. The costs of malaria in terms of strains on the health system are enormous: in endemic countries, more than 3 out of 10 hospital beds are occupied by victims of the disease. The direct and indirect costs of malaria have been estimated to be 1%-5% of sub-Saharan Africa’s Gross Domestic Product, amounting to about USD 12 billion annually.
Previous attempts to eradicate the disease based on vector control and chemoprophylaxis/chemo therapy have had limited success, due to the emergence of drug-resistance in parasites and insecticide-resistance in the mosquito vectors. However, good prospects for malaria elimination are now emerging due to effective malaria control measures, such as long-lasting insecticideimpregnated bednets, indoor residual spraying and the development of artemisine-based combination therapies.
The development of malaria vaccines may provide new tools to eliminate and eradicate this disease. The production of a safe, effective and implementable malaria vaccine remains a difficult challenge, due to the complexity of the biology of the parasite. Yet there is hope that candidate vaccine antigens will be more readily identified due to the availability of the Plasmodium genome sequence databases. Several candidate vaccines already have entered clinical testing and some have shown promising results.
Biofuels for the city - Tuesday March 10 - 5.30pm
Transport now accounts for about 20% of global Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and this figure is growing faster than for any other sector. The growing transport sector has become the main driver for increasing global primary demand. Alternatives to reduce the dependence on oil and simultaneously reduce GHG emissions for transport are under development. Biofuels have the potential to address these two issues.
Current biofuels (first generation biofuels) like bioethanol and biodiesel are produced from the products of conventional food crops, but this production competes with their use as food and animal feed in some parts of the world. BioVision 2009 will offer an opportunity to clarify the advantages and limitations of these biofuels to supply the energy needs of city and other transportation systems.
This session will focus on the second and third generation of biofuels, presenting major efforts in research and development in both public and private sectors to achieve cost effective sustainable production of biofuels with as low a carbon footprint as possible.
The emphasis will be on the new types of experimental bioenergy that are currently emerging such as future second generation biofuels produced from a much broader range of feedstock including the entire biomass of dedicated energy crops (perrenial grass, forestry, by-products from food and feed production...), and third generation biofuels derived from microorganisms like yeast, bacteria or microalgae producing lipides or biohydrogen. The scientific and technical innovations needed to produce the cheapest and most sustainable biofuels will be discussed, together with their advantages, the present state of research and scientific and technological obstacles to be overcome.
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