OpenBio-2022
From September 27 to September 30, the Koltsovo science city of the Novosibirsk Region will host OpenBio for the ninth time, an industry complex of events dedicated to the development of high—tech business and the latest scientific research in the field of biotechnology, biopharmaceutics and virology.
The OpenBio-2022 program includes a conference of young scientists, an exhibition of achievements of biotechnology companies and a scientific and business forum with discussions on longevity, the development of drugs and reagents, the fight against age—dependent diseases, countering the spread of HIV infection, import substitution and prospects for investing in high-tech business in modern realities. This year's event will be held in a combination of offline and online formats.
Scientific Conference
At the conference, young scientists from different regions will present the latest research and development in the following areas: biotechnology, virology, molecular biology, biophysics, bioinformatics.
This year, for the first time, the work of researchers in the field of bioinformatics has been allocated to an independent section. To participate in this section, the organizers invited scientists who are engaged in research based on the analysis of big data of biological and biochemical systems using computer, mathematical and statistical methods.
Installation lectures by famous scientists
In each section, leading Russian scientists will give introductory lectures to young researchers.
Mikhail Gelfand, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, member of Academia Europaea, Honorary Member of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB), Vice President of Skoltech for Biomedical Research, will speak at the conference in the Bioinformatics section.
"We will discuss what kind of research is now interesting to do in the field of bioinformatics. My presentation will be devoted to the trends of the industry, as well as the survival of Russian biology in general, and bioinformatics in particular, in the current situation. We see significant difficulties in cooperation with foreign colleagues. It is necessary to talk about how this can affect Russian biology," Gelfand shared.
Sergey Alkhovsky, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Head of the Biotechnology Laboratory of the D.I. Ivanovsky Institute of Virology of the N.F.Gamalei National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation will give a lecture "The origins of the COVID-19 pandemic: Ecology and Genomics of SARS-like coronaviruses of bats".
"These are the closest relatives and precursors of the SARS-CoV SARS-CoV-2 viruses, which have caused an outbreak and pandemic of a new human infection twice since the beginning of the 21st century. All human viral infections were originally zoonoses, which once managed to overcome the interspecific barrier and "splashed out" from their natural reservoir. Using the example of SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic, we can trace which factors play a major role in this process," explained Alkhovsky, "The relevance of the topic is related to the damage caused to humanity by epidemics and pandemics of new viral infections. The main question facing virologists is whether we can prevent the emergence of new pandemics in the future or how we can effectively deal with them."
In the section "Molecular biology" Guzel Sitdikova, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Head of the Department of Human and Animal Physiology IFMIB KFU (Kazan) will reveal the topic "Neurophysiology of pain: central and peripheral mechanisms of pain in migraine".
In her lecture, Sitdikova will talk about the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie pain perception, the role of ion channels and receptors in the perception of damaging stimuli, as well as about the central and peripheral mechanisms of pain in migraine. She notes that it will be interesting for young scientists to get acquainted with the methods by which these mechanisms are investigated, and the signaling pathways that are the target for the development of analgesic agents.
Brain health, import dependence and the use of new technologies in medicine
The Scientific and Business Forum at OpenBio is expanding and this year its sites will be held in parallel with the sections of the scientific conference. The forum program includes discussions and round tables that will bring together scientists, developers, investors, as well as representatives of high-tech business, the medical community and the authorities to discuss topical issues and trends.
"In recent years, much attention has been paid at OpenBio to countering the COVID-19 pandemic. This season we are shifting the focus to human health in general, considering in detail a number of socially significant diseases. We will discuss brain health and the fight against cognitive impairment, age-dependent diseases, translational medicine in oncology and the HIV epidemic. We will talk about the quality and duration of life, because it is a person who is the center of all processes in all circumstances," said Yulia Linyushina, head of OpenBio.
One of the key events of OpenBio in the last few years has been a platform dedicated to countering the pandemic, which brought together leading virologists, doctors, developers of vaccines and test systems. This year at the round table "Alzheimer's. COVID-19" will discuss the development of neurodegenerative diseases against the background of postcovid syndrome, the relationship of atrial fibrillation and dementia, as well as social aspects of this problem.
"Dementia is the plague of the 21st century. The prevalence of this disease is now very high, including in our country. This problem affects the elderly population, the least protected part of society. Our task is to familiarize doctors with the correct approaches to diagnosis and treatment. The bulk of these patients come to district internists, and 10-15% get to neurologists," shared Pavel Pilipenko, MD, Professor, head of the Department of Clinical Neurology and Neurogeriatrics of NSMU, moderator of the round table "Alzheimer's. COVID-19».
Pilipenko noted that 70% of dementia diseases belong to the Alzheimer's type, which cannot be treated or slowed down. However, doctors, wanting to somehow help the patient, prescribe drugs without an evidence base, which brings nothing but spending large sums of money.
The extension of the active period of life and modern approaches to medicine are discussed annually at the longest session of OpenBio "Technologies of Life". According to the moderators, this year attention will be focused on scientific approaches to life extension. The platform will bring together leading scientists from the field of biology, genetics and molecular medicine, as well as experts in the field of aging and brain health. For the first time, the session will be supplemented with a discussion format — experts with the participation of an interested audience will discuss the possibilities and prospects of evidence-based medicine.
Much attention this year will be paid to Russian developments, the production of medicines and reagents, the prospects of new methods of diagnosis and treatment, the use of artificial intelligence in medicine.
At the round table "Reagents for Livescience", experts will discuss trends in the development of genetic technologies, the needs of laboratories in the field of livescience, the problems of shortage of important reagents, the search for the optimal solution and factors that affect their availability.
"Genetic technologies are the basis for medical technologies, the development of diagnostic systems and the development of veterinary medicine and agricultural production complex. We want to talk about this in order to start forming a single information field in which all participants of this complex complex operate. This is especially important now, when the issue of import dependence is relevant," explained the moderator of the round table Grigory Stepanov, Candidate of Chemical Sciences, Head of the Laboratory of Genomic editing of the IHBFM SB RAS, Director of Development of Biolabmix.
He noted that Russian consumers have great confidence in foreign manufacturers. However, according to the expert, sufficient experience has already been accumulated, which shows the competitiveness of the products of Russian companies in the field of livescience.
"Over the past five years, we have accumulated a lot of experience in the development of new devices. Our devices are no worse in terms of technical parameters of the products of leading foreign vendors. We have greatly tightened the design, for the level of which we were often scolded before. Smart software is installed in our equipment, which provides high-quality data processing and excellent usability. Of course, we use components from foreign suppliers, many of which were unavailable in the current situation. However, the qualification and creativity of our engineers allows us to find solutions for any technical difficulty," said Sergey Dolgushin, director of the company "Aivok", moderator of the round table "Russian developments for engineering biology, biosafety and genetic research".
This platform will bring together experts in the field of instrumentation and representatives of Russian companies who will discuss: where to find investments in development, how to ensure sales growth in the Russian market, how to enter foreign markets.
At a seminar and a round table on intellectual property, experts will analyze successful cases on the commercialization of developments and features of patenting in the field of medicine and biotechnology.
The round table "The Realities of the Russian investor: the Era of new opportunities" will bring together representatives of investment funds who will raise issues of financing projects and companies that are relevant to modern conditions.
The forum will host for the first time an open discussion "Science in Russia: fears and prospects of young scientists", in which young scientists, senior students of higher educational institutions, representatives of high-tech business and investment sphere, leading scientists of institutes working with young scientists are invited to participate. The participants of the discussion will discuss: what obstacles young scientists face today, what determines the decision to go into science after graduation, and what needs to be changed so that young specialists make a choice in favor of a scientific career and develop it in Russia.
This year's event will be held in a combination of offline and online formats. You can connect to all the forum and conference sites. To participate in OpenBio-2022, registration is required: https://openbio.ru /
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