What will OpenBio-2021 be remembered for

Foodtech, Scopus and Virus prevention

Less than 100 days are left before the start of the annual international scientific congress in the field of biotechnology, virology and biopharmaceuticals OpenBio, which will be held from October 5 to 8 in the science city of Koltsovo. All events will be held in a hybrid format, with the possibility of online participation for experts and speakers who will not be able to come. The scientific conference and the business forum sites will be broadcast on the event's website. Traditionally, the program includes a three–day conference of young scientists, an exhibition of achievements of Russian innovative companies and a business forum with discussions on preventive medicine, food technology development, biotechnology, and the fight against coronavirus. An important place at OpenBio will be occupied by the discussion of the problem of the spread of HIV infection in Russia. We can talk about some of the features of the upcoming congress right now.

Indexing in Scopus

All reports of the OpenBio-2021 scientific conference will be published in the form of articles in the journal "Molecular Biology", which is included in the list of the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and indexed in the international database Scopus.

"Molecular Biology" was chosen for a reason – the journal is promising, suitable for us in terms of subject matter, published in Russian and English. Cooperation with him strengthens our contribution to the support of promising scientists and helps them build a career. The presence of articles indexed in Scopus is required when defending dissertations, reviewing applications for scientific grants and closing vacant positions in universities. Getting the article into Scopus confirms its scientific value," said Yulia Linyushina, head of OpenBio.

Big data is a priority

In previous years, young scientists at the conference prepared reports on four sections: "Biotechnology", "Molecular Biology", "Virology" and "Biophysics". An interdisciplinary section "Bioinformatics" will be added at OpenBio-2021. The organizers invite scientists who are engaged in research based on the analysis of big data of biological and biochemical systems using computer, mathematical and statistical methods to participate in the conference.

Breakthroughs in food technology

One of the new discussion platforms at the forum is related to developments in the field of food technology and the use of biotechnologies to solve food problems in the world. It is planned that the round table will discuss industry drivers, key trends in the development of biotechnologies in the food industry and agriculture, alternative and personalized solutions in the field of food creation.

"The audience of the forum is experts in the field of biotechnology, without which the production of new food is no longer possible. We invite scientists, food tech entrepreneurs and corporate partners to discuss the development of the food industry using biotechnologies. The topic is at the peak of popularity, investments in foodtech for the 1st quarter of 2021 have already exceeded $ 9 billion, which is 30% higher than in the same period last year," said Anna Nenakhova, moderator of the session, Investment Director of Uralchem-Innovations LLC.

HIV epidemic in Russia

Within the framework of the forum, a round table "HIV in Russia: problems of pharmaceutical circulation and the latest developments" is planned.  The platform will bring together scientists, participants of patient associations and independent organizations, representatives of pharmaceutical companies and federal and regional authorities to discuss issues and problems related to the spread of HIV infection, the purchase of drugs of past generations, incorrect therapy schemes and the prospect of obtaining a universal vaccine. The outcome of the discussion will be a memorandum with recommendations, which the organizers of OpenBio will send to the regulatory authorities.

"Today, the whole world, including Russia, is gripped by a pandemic caused by a new coronavirus infection. In parallel with it, the HIV epidemic is developing and annually claims tens of thousands of lives. More than a million Russians live with HIV infection, and this is only according to official data. The imperfection of drug provision and medical infrastructure, public resistance and stigma regarding HIV and covid, inability and unwillingness to use effective tools for personal prevention of these infectious diseases make HIV and coronavirus epidemics very similar. The experience of fighting HIV could also be useful in resisting covid," Rita Loginova, a well–known journalist, author of the podcast "Some Pluses" about people living with HIV, communications specialist of the non-profit organization Humanitarian Project, explained the need to discuss this topic.

Vaccines, markers and symptoms of covid

For the second year in a row, coronavirus issues will be covered within the framework of the business forum. At OpenBio-2021, the organizers plan to invite developers of all Russian vaccines to participate in the round table. The discussion will be moderated by the Russian virologist, Head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Virology of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of NSU, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Netesov.

"We plan to discuss the main problematic topics: vaccines and vaccination against COVID-19 and other acute respiratory infections, diagnosis of COVID-19 status, as well as predictive markers of the severity of COVID-19 disease. The last topic is very important: why does a young, healthy and strong body hardly tolerate a coronavirus infection, while elderly patients with a bouquet of chronic diseases can get sick so that they won't even notice because of the absence of symptoms? So far, such markers are only being worked out by scientists and doctors, but their identification will be useful in predicting the severity of the disease with other acute respiratory infections," said Sergey Netesov.

HELP:
OpenBio has been held in the Koltsovo Science city since 2014. OpenBio-2020 gathered 2,679 people from 34 regions of Russia and 10 foreign countries on its sites, 473 of them offline, 2206 online. The forum was attended by delegations from Belarus, Germany, France, Spain and Belgium, who came to the science city with business missions. At the OpenBio scientific conference, young scientists presented 71 reports in the sections "Virology", "Biophysics", "Biotechnology" and "Molecular Biology". 30 scientists who could not come due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation worked in videoconference mode. 7 industry associations and business associations, 10 development institutes, including Skolkovo, RVC and ASI, were represented at the forum.

The organizer of OpenBio-2021: ANO "Koltsovo Innovation Center" with the support of the Government of the Novosibirsk Region and the Administration of the Koltsovo Science City.

Co-organizers: SSC World Bank "Vector", Biotechnopark Koltsovo, Association "Biopharm", Novosibirsk State University.

Organizational partners: the Center for Regional Development of the Novosibirsk Region, the Novosibirsk Regional Innovation Fund, the HealthNet Infrastructure Center, the NGO Investment Development Agency, the Youth and Longevity with Yulia Smirnova program.

Strategic Partner: Beckman Coulter Life Sciences

Official partners: "Helicon Company", "Diaem", "Fizlabpribor"

Partners of the scientific conference: Eppendorf, Azimut Photonics.

Contacts of the OpenBio press center:
press.openbio@gmail.com +7 913 798 1440

Svetlana Albaut

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru