4th International Conference on Microbiome Engineering (ICME)

微生物群由各种各样的微生物和病毒组成，它们存在于地球上从深海到人类皮肤的每一种环境中。微生物群非常复杂，因为它们包含数百到数千个成员，并随着时间、空间和环境背景的变化而变化。通过划分不同生物体的功能并协调这些活动，微生物群落可以比单个种群更有效地进行生物转化。环境扰动会改变微生物群的组成和功能。微生物组工程的目标是设计有针对性的干预措施，以可预测地改变微生物组的性质，或自下而上地将具有所需功能的相互作用的微生物菌株连接在一起，用于生物技术、农业和治疗应用。第四届国际微生物组工程会议就是在这个框架下设计的。这次会议邀请了世界各地的工业界和学术界的专家，讨论微生物组工程的挑战和该领域的未来。这次会议是继前几年成功举办(包括2020年的虚拟会议)之后的系列会议中的第四次。该奖项为美国研究生/博士后副参赛者提供部分支持，并通过为通常分开的领先医疗专业人员和工程师之间的互动提供一个论坛，激发有关材料的新想法，这些材料可能有助于经济、健康和制药相关活动。第四届国际微生物组工程会议旨在建立一个分享该领域开创性知识的平台。这次会议吸引了来自学术界和工业界的与会者，以使来自实验室的新知识有可能被用于制造新产品。会议允许积极参与，包括问答环节和小组讨论。会议上的网络机会允许与会者交流他们的想法，并为未来的合作营造一个环境。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Microbiomes consist of diverse microorganisms and viruses that exist in every environment on Earth ranging from the deep ocean to human skin. Microbiomes are highly complex since they contain hundreds to thousands of members and change as a function of time, space and environmental context. By compartmentalizing functions in different organisms and coordinating these activities, microbial communities can perform biotransformations more efficiently than single populations. Environmental perturbations can alter the composition and functions of microbiomes. Microbiome engineering aims to design targeted interventions to predictably alter microbiome properties or wire together interacting microbial strains with desired functions from the bottom-up for biotechnological, agricultural and therapeutic applications. The 4th International Conference on Microbiome Engineering is designed in this framework. This conference brings in experts in industry and academia worldwide to discuss the challenges in microbiome engineering and the future of the field. The conference is the fourth in the series, following the success of the previous ones held in previous years (including the virtual conference in 2020). This award provides partial support for US-based graduate student/postdoctoral associate participants, and by providing a forum for the interactions between normally separated leading medical professionals and engineers the conference stimulates new ideas about materials that could benefit economic, health and pharmaceutical related activities.The 4th International Conference on Microbiome Engineering aims to create a platform for the sharing of groundbreaking knowledge in the field. The conference draws attendees from academia as well as industry to allow new knowledge from the laboratory to potentially be utilized to manufacture new products. The conference allows for active participation with question-and-answer sessions as well as a panel discussion. The networking opportunities at the conference allow attendees to exchange their ideas and foster an environment for future collaborations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.