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SBE Webinars

 

A Bottom Up Approach to Systems Biotechnology – Lessons Learned from Bacterial Signal Transduction 
Dr. William E. Bentley, Robert E. Fischell Distinguished Professor, Chair, Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland
December 8, 2009 at 2:00-3:00 PM EDT
Professor Bentley will discuss bacterial quorum sensing and how it offers an interesting viewpoint from which to study and control cell phenotype. Through the perception of signal molecules (e.g., AHL, AI-2) and their transduction, bacteria coordinate their behavior and act as ulticellular units. This coordination is responsible for establishing virulence among a variety of pathogens. Biofabricated devices that report on signaling events are constructed to elucidate cell-cell communication and serve as a foundation upon which to develop new drugs and/or screen for pathogenic phenotype.
 
Past Webinars
 

Inventing the Biofuel Future: We Can Have Biomass for Fuel and Eat it Too
Bruce E. Dale, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University
October 22, 2009 at 2:00-3:00 PM EDT
Professor Dale will discuss the general areas in which inventions are likely to occur in the developing biofuels industry.  He will specifically examine where invention and innovation are likely to occur in the cellulosic biofuels industry (emphasizing the so-called sugar platform).  The likely ripple effects of invention in pretreatment technology will be described as will the effects of innovation in crop production, using cover crops as an example.  The potential outcomes of such innovation and invention are frankly startling: less expensive food, abundant cellulosic biofuels, significant environmental benefits and less land needed overall to provide both food and fuel.

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Industrial Systems Biology
Jens Nielsen, Systems Biology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
August 25, 2009 at 2:00-3:00 PM EDT
This presentation will detail how cell factories are used extensively to produce many specific molecules used as pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, fuels, materials and food ingredients. Through the use of directed genetic modifications of cell factories – an approach referred to as metabolic engineering – it is possible to develop novel bioprocesses that are more efficient, more environmentally friendly and that may produce novel compounds.

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The Achilles Heel of Membrane Technology for Biotechnology: Membrane Fouling
Georges Belfort, Russell Sage Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering, Howard P. Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
July 21, 2009 at 2:00-3:00 PM EDT
Professor Belfort will present on some recent key theoretical and experimental discoveries and developments that form the foundation of membrane fouling in pressure-driven synthetic membrane processes. Membrane processes have two major limitations; lack of a theoretical formalism that can predict industrial filtration performance and the inherent problem of membrane fouling.  Both of these limitations will be addressed here in detail with examples from the Belfort lab and others. 

Designing Efficient Metabolic Networks for Biofuels Production
Friedrich Srienc, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN
June 25, 2009 at 2:00-3:00 PM EDT
This presentation will demonstrate the use of  Elementary Mode Analysis to identify all possible pathways that are embedded in a metabolic network and use this information to reduce the metabolic network to the most efficient operation. Several case studies related to biofuels production will show that this rational approach leads to highly productive organisms. 

Ultrafiltration Bioprocessing
Herb Lutz, Principal Engineer, Millipore Corporation
May 28, 2009 at 2:00-3:00 PM EDT
Knowledge of Ultrafiltration is a springboard into the field of bioprocessing.  Herb Lutz will present Ultrafiltration applications, principles of operation, process design and analysis.  The webinar is a perfect opportunity to learn about this integral bioprocessing step.  Practicing biological and chemical engineers should take this opportunity to learn about one of the most ubiquitous processes in the biopharmaceutical industry. 

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Grand Challenges in Sustainable Biofuels Production
Gregory Stephanopoulos, Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
April 22, 2009 at 2:00-3:00PM EDT
This presentation will discuss three major scientific and engineering challenges to sustainable biofuels production. Identification of these challenges is based on an analysis of the biomass-to-biofuels value chain.  This exercise guides establishing of research priorities and also supports guarded optimism for the development of competitive processes for fuel production from renewable resources in the intermediate future.

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Body-On-A-Chip: A Tool for Predictive Pharmacology/Toxicology
Michael L. Shuler, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University
March 31, 2009 at 2:00-3:00PM EDT
Professor Mike Shuler will detail his work to understand the response of the human body to various pharmaceutical and environmental chemicals using a combination of whole body modules and micro models.  Professor Shuler s research focuses on microfabricated devices combined with cell cultures.