Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting - June 28-July 1, 2015

New Biological Frontiers Illuminated by Molecular Sensors and Actuators Welcome Letter

June 2015

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to welcome you to the BPS Thematic Meeting on New Biological Frontiers Illuminated by Molecular Sensors and Actuators . This landmark international meeting brings together 25 of the leading minds in the areas of biological fluorescence imaging, biological tool development, and implementation of optogenetics, all of which are used to resolve fundamental biological questions that otherwise cannot be addressed by conventional techniques alone. We have more than 96 participants from all over the world. The goal of this meeting is to provide the attendees with a map of the new, and largely unexplored, landscape of powerful optical and chemical tools that enable researchers at the frontier to peer into and harness biological systems with a level of control that was previously unimaginable. More specifically, the recent emergence of biosensors based on fluorescent proteins, along with optogenetic and chemical dimerization techniques, have created the ability to both visualize and perturb biochemistry in live cells. In coming years we can expect complementary technologies based on magnetic- and force-based stimulation to join optical and chemical techniques as indispensable research tools for gaining novel insights into cellular biology. Due to the multidisciplinary applications of these tools, this meeting is attracting an extremely diversified audience from the fields of biotechnology, method development, chemical biology, material science, cell biology, general chemistry and engineering, computational biology, and synthetic biology. This meeting is thus expected to catalyze the exchange of ideas among this unusually diverse community, thus offering lively, inspiring opportunities for unconventional research collaborations. We also encourage you to take part in social and cultural activities, because Taipei has a lot to offer. Thank you all for joining our meeting, and we look forward to having a very enjoyable four-day event together!

Sincerely,

Takanari Inoue

Jin-Der Wen

Robert E. Campbell

Chia-Fu Chou