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.
Submit an abstract
Abstract submission begins Sept. 14. If you submit by Oct. 12, you'll get a decision by Nov. 1. The regular submission deadline is Nov. 30. See the categories.
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
Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.
Learn moreGet the latest from ASBMB Today
Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in Science
Science highlights or most popular articles
New mass spectrometry tool accurately identifies bacteria
Scientists develop a software tool to categorize microbe species and antibiotic resistance markers to aid clinical and environmental research. Read about this recent article published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.
New tool matches microbial and metabolic metaproteomic data
Scientists develop a bioinformatics program that maps omics data to metabolic pathways. Read about this recent article published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics
Meet Paul Shapiro
Learn how the JBC associate editor went from milking cows on a dairy farm to analyzing kinases in the lab.
CRISPR epigenome editor offers potential gene therapies
Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, created a system to modify the methylation patterns in neurons. They presented their findings at ASBMB 2025.
Finding a symphony among complex molecules
MOSAIC scholar Stanna Dorn uses total synthesis to recreate rare bacterial natural products with potential therapeutic applications.
E-cigarettes drive irreversible lung damage via free radicals
E-cigarettes are often thought to be safer because they lack many of the carcinogens found in tobacco cigarettes. However, scientists recently found that exposure to e-cigarette vapor can cause severe, irreversible lung damage.