BioWorld International Correspondent

Israel hosted the launch of the world's first series of International Symposia on Bio-Inspired Engineering Dec. 8 and 9. Some 500 local and visiting scientists, bio-entrepreneurs and a smattering of financiers met at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa to discuss the marriage of macro- and molecular biology with biotechnology, nanotechnology and electric/computer engineering.

In his introductory remarks, Ehud Keinan, chairman of the organizing committee, presented two separate paradigms of bio-inspired engineering, both based on bio-molecular and biological structure, systems and processes.

Keinan, a Technion professor of biochemistry, told BioWorld International, "One paradigm aims at generating new optimized biological structures and functions via modified and redesigned natural systems, an approach that has already yielded various new biopharmaceutical and biomedical technologies."

Raymond Dwek, director of the Glycobiology Institute and head of Oxford University's biochemistry department, spoke at the opening plenary session. He looked back some 20 years to when he built a bridge across the academic-industry divide by founding Oxford GlycoSciences plc (formerly Oxford GlycoSystems), and then two other firms.

Dwek, on the board at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) of the Negev and the National Institute for Biotechnology at BGU, has been a vocal opponent of the academic boycott of Israel, emphasizing that virtually all nationalities have been represented among the 800 staffers he directs.

"Science must stand in a neutral position politically," he said. "Israel, as a leading force in biotechnology, adds significantly to the common good that could be achieved by free technology transfer among all the nations of the world."

Michel Revel, from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, spoke about the potential of embryonic stem cells, specifically to repair neuropathologies by integrating a cytokine with embryonic stem cells to stimulate myelin repair. Speaking to BioWorld International, he lamented the loss of many supernumerary embryos that are not implanted in utero but "destined to become waste or kept frozen indefinitely when they could be used to produce lines of embryonic stem cells for transplantation and eventually to treat otherwise incurable diseases."

Among the other outstanding researchers were Paul Wentworth from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., who showed how antibody-catalyzed oxidation of water produces ozone, aggravating inflammatory disease and atherosclerosis.

Scientist/entrepreneur Willem Stemmer of Maxygen Inc. in Redwood City, Calif., demonstrated how his "Directed Evolution" or "Molecular Breeding" technologies for DNAShuffling (gene recombination) to optimize genes have spawned companies for numerous applications.

Technion physics professor Uri Sivan spoke about the value of molecular self assembly in demonstrating DNA-directed assemblage of a field-effect transistor in a test tube.