Biotechnology 2004, 12th
International Symposium
Santiago, Chile, 17-22 October 2004
Messel Bursar Tarit Mukhopadhyay reports
 Chile
isn't the first place you would think of to hold the 12th
symposium on biotechnology. But though there was time for
a wine tasting session, several cultural events and a conference
dinner, one impression was clear. Chile places a great deal
of importance on biotechnology, and its president, Ricardo
Lagos Escobar, opened the conference.
In his address President Lagos declared the importance of
biotechnology in his country and the noteworthy impact it
has on many developing nations, not just through foreign investment
but through the vaccines and drug discoveries which benefit
many people around the world.
Over 40 nations were represented at this conference, which
is held once every four years and is widely regarded as a
tour de force by those in the industry. It was a very intensive
five days with two keynote speeches delivered each morning
and concurrent sessions running thereafter. The subject matter
was wide and varied ranging from molecular and genomic tools
to cultivation technology and downstream processing.
One of the highlights of the conference was a key note speech
delivered by Barry Buckland of Merck Inc. He talked about
the development and production of virus like particles for
the treatment of human papilloma virus (HPV), which is known
to cause cervical cancer.
Worldwide, cervical cancer is the second leading cause of
cancer-related deaths in women. Merck's Phase III study targets
four different HPV subtypes: HPV 6, 11, 16 and 18, the latter
two being associated with a majority of cervical cancer deaths.
Mr Buckland showed data collected over the past two years
that indicated the vaccine candidate reduced the incidence
of infection in 100 percent of women who had not been previously
infected with HPV 16, offering a very promising future.
One of the more salient features brought up in his talk discusses
the problems of aggregation of virus-like particles which
causes total product loss if this occurs before chromatography.
With further discussions with him after the talk it became
apparent that aggregation is a common problem in the final
formulation of many vaccine products, including my own area
of interest, meningococcal protein vaccines. He proved to
be very helpful and we discussed possible options
My own presentation was met with curiosity and amiably received
as I explained the application and limitations of micro-scale
devices and methodologies; in particular understanding growth
in microwell plates. The assumption that bacterial growth
in microwells is a function of oxygen transfer forms the basis
of most research in this field. This explains why the greatest
focus has been placed into formulating new ways to accurately
measure and predict the oxygen mass transfer co-efficient,
(kLa). However, calculating this value is notoriously difficult
because of the small volumes involved, coupled with the limitation
of functional probes. Hence my presentation set to highlight
a new approach that uses dimensionless modelling which no
longer requires calculating kLa values and allows the prediction
of growth in other larger systems. The presentation motivated
much feedback and debate which I found very useful and thought
provoking.
This conference was one of firsts. It was my first experience
of peer review; it was my first experience of presenting at
conference. In fact, it was the first conference I had ever
attended and indeed my first time in South America. There
is little doubt that I have benefited from the SCI's generosity,
both academically and personally, for which I am most grateful.
Thank you SCI!
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