‘Harvesting Biodiversity – Mining, Methods and Metagenomics’ is the title of the 2006 WCFS Food Summit. Following the highly successful meetings ‘Genomics of the Food Microbes’ and ‘Mining Food Microbes’, this is the third Summit to be organized by the Programme Microbial Functionality and Safety.
This year’s Food Summit integrates the growing insight into the dimensions and dynamics of microbial diversity, and their impact on all aspects of the food industry, including functional fermentations, intestinal health and microbial safety & preservation. Specific attention will be given to the approaches that aim to mine the data and translate these into new strains and processes. In addition, a new series of methodological and diagnostic approaches has emerged that can be used to improve food functionality, quality and safety. Finally, metagenomics has developed into a powerful approach to describe the structure and function, as well as predict the metabolic activity of the mixed cultures and microbial communities that are present in the entire food chain, involved in food fermentations, and contributing to health and disease in the consumer. These areas also incorporate new concepts deriving from comparative and functional genomics, bioinformatics and nanotechnology, and systems biology.
The backbone of the Food Summit is formed by a series of plenary presentations by high-level experts from the world’s leading institutions. The objectives are to introduce the area and its importance, describe the present state of the art, and provide future perspectives with specific attention for the impact on science and application. Following the presentations, there is ample time for discussion, which can be used to prioritize new directions, address the scientific and industrial impact, and evaluate new horizons. To link these presentations to the areas covered in this Food Summit, the programme is organized into the following five sessions: Metagenomics and GI Tract, Microbial and Genome-Based Methods, Biodiversity and Fermentations, Diversity and Safety, Diversity Mining and Applications.
In addition to the invited speakers, the participants of the Food Summit are WCFS Partners, who in some cases act as chairpersons, as well as scientists from the Programme Microbial Functionality and Safety.