Synthetic Biology 2.0 - Printer-friendly conference information

SyntheticBiology2.0

May 20-22, 2006
University of California, Berkeley

The Second International Conference on Synthetic Biology will take place on May 20-22, 2006, at the University of California, Berkeley. The conference will bring together a diverse group of participants across a variety of disciplines, including some of the world’s leaders in bioengineering, biochemistry, quantitative biology, biophysics, molecular and cellular biology, bioethics, and the biotech industry. A collaborative effort among Berkeley Lab, MIT, UC Berkeley, and UCSF, the conference aims to catalyze the development of this nascent bioengineering discipline.

Agenda

Saturday May 20, 2006
	Welcome: Jay Keasling –Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / UC Berkeley
	Opening Remarks: Graham Fleming –Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / UC Berkeley

ENERGY SESSION:
	Chairman: Steven Chu – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / UC Berkeley
	Craig Venter – J. Craig Venter Institute, “Synthetic Genomics“
	Nancy Ho – Purdue University, “Ethanol production”
	Timothy Gardner – Boston University, “Shotgun mapping of transcription regulation: the hunt for genetic gadgetry”

MATERIALS SESSION:
	Chairman: Matt Francis – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / UC Berkeley
	Arash Komeili – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / UC Berkeley, “Magnetite Biomineralization in Bacteria”
	Dan Morse – UC Santa Barbara, “Biologically inspired nanofabrication”
	Paul Rothemund - California Institute of Technology, “DNA origami”
	Dyche Mullins – UC San Francisco, "From signal to structure: Engineering artificial cytoskeletons"

FOUNDATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SESSION:
	Chairman: Tom Knight – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	Mitsuhiro Itaya – KEIO University, Japan, “A novel genome vector for giant DNA assembly”
	Vincent Noireaux – University of Minnesota, “Cell-free gene expression in synthetic vesicles”
	Christina Smolke – California Institute of Technology, ”Engineering nucleic acid-based molecular sensors for probing and programming cellular systems”
	Drew Endy – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “On a System for Engineering Genetic Machines”

DNA SYNTHESIS PANEL:
	J. D. Kittle - Coda Genomics
	John Danner – Codon Devices
	Jeremy Minshull – DNA2.0
	Hans Buegl - GeneArt

	Poster session and reception – Courtyard


Sunday May 21, 2006

CHEMISTRY SESSION:
	Chairman: Carlos Bustamante – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / Howard Hughes Medical Institute / UC Berkeley
	Lei Wang - Salk Institute, “Protein Biosynthesis: Encoding Unnatural Amino Acids and Evolving in Cells”
	Frances Arnold – California Institute of Technology, “New bacterial communication lines by laboratory evolution of LuxR”
	Carolyn Bertozzi – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / Howard Hughes Medical Institute / UC Berkeley, “Chemical tools for probing the glycome”
	Jack Szostak – Harvard, “Towards the Design and Synthesis of an Artificial Cell”

HEALTH SESSION:
	Chairman: Wendell Lim – UC San Francisco
	David Schaffer – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / UC Berkeley, “Directed evolution of new viruses for gene delivery”
	Adam Arkin – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / Howard Hughes Medical Institute / UC Berkeley, “Design of Tumor-Killing Bacteria”
	Martin Fussenegger – Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, “Synthetic mammalian gene networks“
	Chris Voigt – UC San Francisco, “Secreting Spider Silk in Salmonella”
	David Baltimore – California Institute of Technology, “Synthetic immunology”
	Jef Boeke – Johns Hopkins University, “Synthetic retrotransposons”

10 MINUTE SHORT TALKS:
	Caroline Ajo-Franklin – Harvard Medical School
	John Anderson – UC San Francisco/UC Berkeley
	Addison Ault – Princeton University
	Frederick Balagadde – Stanford University
	Steffen Mueller – SUNY Stony Brook
	Jack Newman – Amyris Biotechnologies
	Samantha Sutton – MIT
	Trevor Swartz – UC Santa Cruz
	Brian Yeh – UC San Francisco
	Peter Carr – MIT; Farren Isaacs – Harvard Medical School

	Poster Awards – Jay Keasling, Drew Endy

PERSPECTIVES/CHARGE – DAY 3:
	David Baltimore – California Institute of Technology

	Reception and dinner banquet


Monday May 22, 2006

SYNTHETIC SAFETY & SECURITY SESSION	Chair & Moderator: Eric Eisenstadt – Institute of Genomic Research
	Security Self-Governance White Paper & Proposals
	• Steve Maurer – Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley
	Sequence Screening with BlackWatch
	• Rob Jones – Craic Computing
	On Next Generation Screening Frameworks
	• Jonathan Eisen – UC Davis
	Summary of Open Issues
	• Drew Endy - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	Open Discussion
	• Eric Eisenstadt – The institute of Genomic Research
	• On-Stage Advisors: Gerald Epstein – CSIS; Michele Garfinkel – Venter Institute; Stephen Maurer – UC Berkeley; Harry Rubin – U Penn/NSABB
	Next Steps
	• Eric Eisenstadt – The institute of Genomic Research
	• Expected Contributors: Michael Stebbins – FAS; Industry; EU; Asia; Drew Endy - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

UNDERSTANDING AND PERCEPTION SESSION:	Chair & Moderator: Oliver Morton - Nature
	Understanding Risk
	• Paul Slovic – University of Oregon
	Discovering Synthetic Biology
	• Lawrence McCray & Natalie Kuldell – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	Ethical Challenges in Synthetic Biology
	• Laurie Zoloth - Northwestern
	Framing Risks
	• Paul Rabinow – UC Berkeley
	Open Discussion
	• Oliver Morton - Nature

	Media Q&A

OWNERSHIP, SHARING & INNOVATION SESSION:	Chair & Moderator: Richard Newton – UC Berkeley
	Synthetic Economics
	• Ken Oye – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	Synthetic Biology: Caught Between Property Right, the Public Domain, and the Commons
	• Arti Rai – Duke University
	Open Discussion
	• Richard Newton – UC Berkeley



COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION SESSION:	Chair & Moderator: Tom Kalil – UC Berkeley
	Synthetic Biology 3.0
	• Sven Panke – Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
	iGEM & The Registry of Standard Biological Parts
	• Randy Rettberg – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	Technical Standards
	• Tom Knight – Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy
	Community Organization
	• Drew Endy – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	Funding Strategy
	• Tom Kalil – UC Berkeley
	Open Discussion
	• Moderator: Tom Kalil – UC Berkeley


DECLARATION SESSION:
	Review and Approval of Community-Wide Declarations

Travel information

Due to limited parking availability, we recommend that you use public transportation whenever possible. Shuttles will be available between the two main conference hotels (see below).

HOTELS

We strongly encourage conferees to make hotel reservations early. The conference coincides with several UC Berkeley graduation commencements, so hotel accomodations for the weekend of May 20-22 are expected to be difficult. We have reserved blocks of rooms at the two recommended hotels below.

Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center Berkeley Marina
200 Marina Boulevard
Berkeley, California, 94710
United States
Tel: (510) 548-7920
Fax: (510) 548-7944
hotel website

A 5-minute ride from the conference (shuttles will be provided). The hotel also provides shuttle service from the Downtown Berkeley BART station to the hotel. Guests are asked to call the main number when they arrive at the Downtown Berkeley BART station.

Conference Rates:
$159 Single
$159 Double
$169 Triple
$179 Quad

Other local hotels

Berkeley City Club
2315 Durant Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
Tel: (510) 848-7800
Website: http://www.berkeleycityclub.com/

Hotel Rates (does not include taxes):
$150 – Double
$150 – Queen
$150 – Double & Twin
$150 – 2 Twin Beds

Claremont Resort & Spa
41 Tunnel Rd
Berkeley, CA
Tel: (510) 843-3000
Website: http://www.claremontresort.com/

Coming by air

United Airlines and Continental Airlines are the the official airlines of Synthetic Biology 2.0, and both are offering special airfare rates for Synthetic Biology 2.0 (thanks to Jonathan Goler). To take advantage of these rates, use this information:

United Airlines:
Use the special Meeting Desk (+1-800-521-4041) to book your reservations. Book early and take advantage of the promotional fares for coach class travel. Earn a 5% discount off the lowest applicable fare, including First Class, or 10% off mid-week travel for an additional 5% discount. Refer to "BERKELEY SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY CENTER" for discount. Mileage Plus members receive full credit for all miles flown to this meeting. You or your travel agent should call 537TO today as seats may be limited.

Continental Airlines:
Experience dependable, first-rate service and earn miles in OnePass, Continental’s award-winning frequent flyer program. To enroll in OnePass, log on to www.continental.com. For discounts, call your travel professional or Continental’s MeetingWorks at 800-468-7022. Outside of the United States, please call your local Continental Airlines Reservation Office. Advise the agent of: Agreement Code: 3MLJZE, Z Code: ZQHK.

Oakland International Airport is approximately 15 miles from UC Berkeley. Public transportation from the airport: take the AirBart Shuttle to the Oakland Coliseum BART station. Board a Richmond bound BART train and get off at the Berkeley Station. Exit the Berkeley station at Center Street. Walk east on Center Street to get to campus.

San Francisco International Airport is 45-60 minutes away by taxi. Cab fare from SFO to Berkeley is about $65; tell the driver that you want to go to Berkeley via the Bay Bridge. You may also use local van services such as Bayporter Express, (510) 864-4000. The current charge for one way travel to and from the airport is $18. BART service is available from SFO. Take a Richmond-bound BART train to downtown Berkeley. Exit the Berkeley station at Center Street. Walk east on Center Street to get to campus.

Car rental :
Avis at 1-877-289-2611
reference your Avis Meeting Discount Number K019303

Budget at 1-800-214-6092
reference your Budget Meeting Discount Number X914201

Coming by car

From San Francisco, the San Francisco airport, and points south on northbound Highway 101:

Follow U.S. 101 north and then switch to I-80 east, and take it across the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge
Stay left as you get off the Bay Bridge and take I-80 east heading to Berkeley & Sacramento
Exit I-80 onto University Avenue
Continue east on University Avenue for approximately 1.5 miles to Oxford Street at the western edge of the campus

From Oakland, the Oakland airport, Hayward or San Jose on northbound I-880:

Stay in left center lanes on I-880 when you reach downtown Oakland
Exit I-80 east (to Berkeley)
Exit I-80 at University Avenue
Continue east on University Avenue for approximately 1.5 miles to Oxford Street

From the East Bay on eastbound Highway 24:

From Highway 24 exit at Telegraph Ave. and take a right on Telegraph.
Continue on Telegraph until it ends at the southside of campus on Bancroft.
Make a left on Bancroft
Make a right on Fulton, which will become Oxford Street in two blocks
Continue on Oxford to University.

From the East Bay on northbound Highway 13:

Highway 13 ends and becomes Tunnel Road
Continue on Tunnel Road. Tunnel Road becomes Ashby Avenue near the Claremont Hotel. Continue on Ashby.
Turn right at Shattuck Avenue
Turn right at University Avenue and continue east one block to Oxford Street and the western edge of the campus

From the East Bay on I-80 bound either east or west

Exit University Avenue
Continue east on University Avenue for approximately 1.5 miles to Oxford Street

From the East Bay on westbound I-580:

Exit I-80 East (to Berkeley & Sacramento)
Exit at University Avenue
Continue east on University Avenue for approximately 1.5 miles to Oxford Street

Public transportation

Parking is limited at the Berkeley campus! Whenever possible, we encourage you to use public transportation. When using public transportation it is good to have lots of change. Some services offer exact fare only (e.g. AC Transit Buses and Campus Shuttle Service).

BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)
Trains operate from Fremont, Richmond, Bay Point/Concord and San Francisco/Daly City and include service to San Francisco International Airport. BART connects to Oakland International Airport via a short hop on an AirBart shuttle bus. A map indicating the route and stops of each train is located at each BART station. The Berkeley BART station is just 1-1/2 blocks west of the Berkeley campus. Get off at the Berkeley Station (aka Downtown Berkeley). Walk east on Center Street for 1 block to the campus, then walk north (left) on Oxford for approximately 2 blocks to Visitor Services in University Hall, on your left.

AC Transit
AC Transit bus service provides transportation for commuters to and from San Francisco and throughout Alameda and Western Contra Costa County. There are several AC bus lines that come near the campus area such as lines: #65; #52; #51; #43; #40; #15; #9; F and U. For additional lines and information contact AC Transit at (510) 839-2882. For example, from the San Francisco Bus Terminal board AC Transit Bus #F: Get off at Center and Shattuck Walk east on Center Street for 1 block to the campus.

Transit and Shuttle Information Websites & Phone Numbers:

BART including service to San Francisco International Airport	(510) 465-2278

AC Transit East Bay buses	(510) 839-2882

San Franciso Muni San Francisco Buses	(415) 673-6864

AirBART AirBART service from Oakland Airport only	(510) 562-7700

Caltrain/Southern Pacific Railroad Commuter train service from San Francisco and San Jose	(415) 557-8661 (800) 558-8661

SamTrans Bus service between Palo Alto and downtown San Francisco.	(650) 817-1717 (800) 650-4287

Bay Area Transit Trip Planner Helps plan door-to-door trips by searching the schedules of multiple Bay Area transit providers.

UC Berkeley Campus Shuttle (Monday through Friday) Bus service from Downtown Berkeley (across from BART at Center & Shattuck in front of Bank of America) to UC campus perimeter, Botanical Gardens and Lawrence Hall of Science.	(510) 642-5149

Cool things to do in Berkeley

The Berkeley City Website has a great list of galleries, parks, and other local attractions. Lucille Poskanzer has compiled a wonderful list of Berkeley restaurants, complete with recommendations and arranged by region.