Building natural products
Natural products are molecules produced by living organisms and include some of our most powerful drugs. Emerging discoveries in this field have allowed scientists to deepen our understanding of how natural products are assembled and how they can be harnessed for widespread applications.
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This program at Discover BMB 2024 is focused on recent advances in natural product biochemistry and biotechnology. The first session focuses on the emerging area of natural products from higher eukaryotes and animals; the second session focuses on natural products from microbiomes and symbionts; and the final session focuses on the biochemistry and biotechnology of natural product genome mining.
We’ll hear about the amazing discoveries in this field, some of which were powered by major technological advances. We’ll also hear how discoveries in natural products biochemistry are now in turn powering new applications in biotechnology related to biocatalysis, agriculture and sustainable chemical production.
Keywords: Natural products, biocatalysis, microbiome.
Who should attend: Anyone interested in natural products, biocatalysis, the microbiome or the future of biotechnology.
Theme song: “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane
This session is powered by alkaloids.
Advances in natural products biochemistry and technology
Natural products from higher eukaryotes and animals
Chair: Yi Tang
Bradley Moore, University of California, San Diego

Rebecca Butcher, University of Florida
Emily Derbyshire, Duke University
Jing-Ke Weng, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Natural products from microbiomes and symbionts
Chair: Katherine Ryan
Jason Crawford, Yale University
Nancy Keller, University of Wisconsin—Madison
Alessandra Eustaquio, University of Illinois Chicago
Mohammad Seyedsayamdost, Princeton University
Biochemistry and biotechnology of natural product genome mining
Chair: Alessandra Eustaquiol
Jamie Link, Princeton University
Katherine Ryan, University of British Columbia
Gerald Wright, McMaster University
Yi Tang, University of California, Los Angeles
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