SciNews

Greetings, IVACS members!

An update of the 2009 meeting plans
We are working hard on the planning of next year’s Meeting. The 2009 In Vitro Biology Meeting will be held in beautiful Charleston, SC, on June 6-10. At this time we would like to update you on some of our plans. The scientific program is coming together very nicely, with numerous plenary sessions, joint sessions and IVACS symposia and workshops. Plenary Session topics include: gene targeting (Richard Heller, IVACS co-convener), the integration of the “-omics” (i.e., genomics / proteomics metabolomics; IVACs co-convener still needed), and national/international regulatory aspects of GMOs (Thomas Flynn, IVACS co-convener). Additionally, we are planning three Joint Symposia that will focus on cryopreservation (Lia Campbell, co-convener), media design, and the use of animal assays to identify health-enhancing products (IVACs co-convener still needed).

New this year, we are planning for our section’s program to directly link symposia with workshops and/or roundtable discussions to help put into practice what we hear in the symposia. The topics for these sessions include an important Memorial Symposium for Dr. June Bradlaw entitled “Toxicology in the 21st Century” convened by Eugene Elmore and Brad Upham. This symposium will be paired with a workshop/roundtable discussion on bioassay protocols.

Additionally, Paul Price and Liz Roemer are organizing a symposium involving bio/tissue engineering, which will be linked with a workshop on 3D cell culture discussing state-of-the-art techniques.

Of interest to everyone working with cell cultures, John Harbell is convening a session on the impact of cell contamination on in vitro research. This symposium will be coupled with a workshop on the most up-to-date protocols and methods for cell line characterization, identification, and contamination testing. The organizers for this workshop are Dennis Laska, John Harbell, Amy Wright and colleagues from Applied Biosystems and Charles River Laboratories and other organizations.

Furthermore, we are in the midst of planning some unique sessions highlighting invertebrate biology. Given that we will be in a city noted for its nearby marine life and marine research programs, Jim Grasela, Lucy Lee, and Guy Smagghe are organizing a symposium on marine invertebrate cell. This symposium will be followed by a roundtable discussion on fish and marine invertebrate cell line establishment. Additionally, Guido Caputo will be convening a roundtable on insect pathogen field exploration and in vitro propagation.

At this writing, we are still looking for people to help convene some of the sessions mentioned above. Please let us know if you are interested. Also, any comments or suggestions on our program ideas will be appreciated.

We look forward to seeing you next year, June 6 – 10, in Charleston!

Dennis Laska, IVACS Chair
Richard Heller, IVACS Co-Chair (Membership)
Cynthia Goodman, IVACS Co-Chair (Program)
Guido Caputo, IVACS Secretary
Lia Campbell, Local Arrangements Committee
Paul Price, Local Organizing Committee
John Harbell, Organizing Committee
Lucy Lee, Program Committee
Elizabeth Roemer, Program Committee
Guy Smagghe, Program Committee
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Guido F. Caputo, Secretary of the SIVB – IVACS Section offered this perspective on the 2008 World Congress on In Vitro Biology [The In Vitro Animal and Cell Systems (IVACS) Perspective]

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SIVB IVACS Members attending the 2008 SIVB World Congress take a trip to the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum

The 2008 World Congress on In Vitro Biology was recently held (June 14 -18) in Tucson, Arizona. The Congress was cosponsored by the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB), The Japanese Association for Animal Cell Technology (JAACT) and, The Japanese Tissue Culture Association (JTCA). The In Vitro Animal and Cell Systems (IVACS) was very well represented with very informative and state of the art research sessions.

On Saturday June 14, Guy Smagghe, Ghent University, chaired the 12th International Conference on Invertebrate and Fish Cell Culture. The opening session entitled “Cell Interactions and Signal Mechanisms” was convened by Cynthia L. Goodman, USDA/ARS/BCIRL. Speakers included David Stanley, USDA/ARS/BCIRL who spoke on “Prostaglandin Actions in an Established Insect Cell Line”, Lynne A. Oland, University of Arizona who spoke on “Signaling Interactions Between Olfactory Receptor Axons and Glial Cells in the Axon Sorting Zone of the Developing Moth Olfactory Pathway” and Stuart J. Newfeld, Arizona State University who spoke on “Intercellular Signaling Regulates Heart Development in Drosophila”

Following the Session IVACS members gathered for lunch where Cynthia Goodman presented the 2008 SIVB Fellow Award to her friend, colleague and mentor, Dr. Arthur H. McIntosh, USDA/AR/ BCIRL. Congratulations Art.

In the afternoon Guy Smagghe, Ghent University convened the “Fish and Amphibian Cells in Ecotoxicological Research” Invertebrate Symposium with speakers Lucilia E. J. Lee, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada, who spoke on “Applications and Potential Uses of Rtgill-W1, a Cell Line Derived from Gills of Rainbow Trout”, Mark W. Widder, US Army Center for Environmental Health Research, who spoke on “Unique Cell Characteristics for the Development of a Portable Cell-based Toxicity Sensor for Drinking Water Protection” and S. R. Monaghan, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, and Wilfrid Laurier University,Waterloo, ON, Canada who spoke on “Evaluation of EP-1, a cell line from Anguilla japonica, to study the life cycle of the microsporidian Heterosporis anguillarum”.

Later in the afternoon Raziel S. Hakim, Howard University moderated a round table discussion on Invertebrate Cell Culture entitled “State of the Field: Invertebrate and Fish Cell and Tissue Culture”. Panelists included: Guido F. Caputo, Natural Resources Canada, Cynthia L. Goodman, USDA/ARS/BCIRL and Lucilia E. J. Lee, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada

On Sunday morning June 15, Amy A. Wang, GlaxoSmithKline, and David D. Songstad, Monsanto Company, convened a Plenary Symposium: “RNA-Based Technologies and Therapeutics” which featured Chris Cunning, Invitrogen Corporation who spoke on “Moving from In Vitro to In Vivo RNAi” Caifu Chen, Applied Biosystems who spoke on “New Development of microRNA Research and Role of miR-34s in p53 Tumor Suppressor Network” and Jim Roberts, Monsanto Company who spoke on “Control of Coleopteran Insect Pests Through RNA Interference”.

Later on Sunday morning, John W. Harbell, Mary Kay, Inc., and Guy Smagghe, University of Ghent convened an Animal Symposium entitled “Global Issues on Alternatives to Animal Toxicology Testing”. Speakers included Hajime Kojima, Japanese Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods who spoke on “Japanese Collaboration on Alternative to Animal Toxicology Testing”, Phillippe Vanparys, Altoxicon who spoke on “Critical Review of the Test Paradigm to Predict Human Hepatotoxicity” and Eugene Elmore, University of California – Irvine who spoke on “In Vitro Alternatives in Toxicology: A Current and Future Science Perspective”.

On Sunday afternoon Cynthia L. Goodman, USDA/ARS, and Guido F. Caputo, Natural Resources Canada, convened an Animal Symposium entitled “Virus-cell Interactions in Vertebrate and Invertebrate Systems”. At this Session, Suzanne M. Thiem, Michigan State University spoke on “Baculovirus Genes Affecting Host Functions”, Brenda G. Hogue, Arizona State University spoke on “Coronavirus Assembly at Intracellular Membranes” and William T. Gerthoffer, University of South Alabama spoke on “Viral Gene Transfer Vectors in Studies of Human Smooth Muscle Function”.

Later in the afternoon the Opening Ceremony Keynote Symposium entitled “Global Agriculture at the Crossroads: Pathway to an Era of Biohappiness” was given by M. S. Swaminathan, Chairman of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs; UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology at the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, India; and Chairman of the National Commission on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security of India.

On Monday June 16, Colette J. Rudd, XenoPort, Inc., and Mark C. Jordan, Agriculture and Agri-Food convened a Plenary Symposium entitled “Bioinformatics, Genomics, Proteomics and Cellomics”. Jeffrey Schloss, National Human Genome Research Institute -National Institutes of Health spoke on “Next Generation Sequencing Technologies, Their Implications, and Prospects for Next-Next Gen Technologies”, Steve Taylor, Amylin Pharmaceuticals spoke on “Peptidomic Profiling of Endocrine Cell Culture Media for Bioactive Peptide Discovery” and David Mount, University of Arizona spoke on “Data Management and Extraction of Biological Information from Large Data Sets”.

Later Monday morning, John W. Harbell, Mary Kay, Inc., and Tetsuji Okamoto, Hiroshima University convened an Animal Symposium entitled “Good Cell Culture Laboratory Practices”. Arihiro Kohara, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation spoke on “Mycoplasma Contamination and Cross Contamination in Tissue Culture: A Survey of Major Institutions in Japan”, Hans A. Raabe, Institute for In Vitro Sciences spoke on “Assuring Cell-based Assay Quality by Design and Execution: A Contract Research Laboratory Perspective” and Amy Wright, Ciba Vision Corporation spoke on “Homogenous Cell Cultures: Understanding Cross Contamination and Maintaining Culture Integrity”.

On Monday afternoon Sandra L. Schneider, Research & Clinical Laboratory Systems, and Tohru Masui, JCRB Cell Bank convened the “Leonard J. Schiff Memorial Animal Symposium entitled “Current Status of Tissue-engineered Product Regulation : A global View on the Relationship of Science and Practicality “. Speakers included Tohru Masui, JCRB Cell Bank who spoke on “The Regulation of Cultured Cells and Cellular Products for Transplantation: Current View of the Japanese Regulatory Process” and, Sandra L. Schneider, Research & Clinical Laboratory Systems who spoke on “Navigating Research Strategy, Clinical Integrity and Current Global Regulatory Compliance”. Following the talks, a round table/panel discussion was held with the following panelists: John W. Harbell, Mary Kay Inc., Tohru Masui, JCRB Cell Bank, Quan Nguyen, Nguyen & Tarbet and, Colette Rudd, Xenoport, Inc.

Later in the afternoon Paul J. Price, D-Finitive Cell Technologies convened an Animal Workshop entitled: “Effect of Medium Constituents on Cells”. During the workshop Matt Caple, SAFC Biosciences spoke on “Hydrolysates”, Tom Fletcher, Irvine Scientific spoke on “Nutrient Feeding”, and Paul Price, D-Finitive Cell Technologies spoke on “Effect of Temperature and Light on Medium Constituents”. A Panel discussion followed.

In addition Kim O’Connor, Tulane University moderated an Animal Contributed Paper Session entitled “Stem Cell Biology and Cancer Drug Development” and
Lia H. Campbell, Cell and Tissue Systems, Inc. moderated an Animal Interactive Poster Session entitled “In Vitro Animal Cell Sciences Interactive Posters” on Monday.

On Tuesday June 17 Haruhiko Tsumura, Kirin Pharma Co., and Pamela J. Weathers, Arkansas Bioscience Institute convened a Plenary Symposium entitled “Large scale, cell and tissue-based production of biopharmaceuticals and secondary metabolites”. Speakers included Wayne Curtis, Pennsylvania State University who spoke on “Animal and Plant Cultures: Production of Biopharmaceuticals and Secondary Metabolites’, Chikashi Hirashima, Chugai Pharmaceutical who spoke on “Process Development for mAb Therapeutic Production in 10,000 L-reactors with CHO Cells”, Ganapathy Sivakumar,
Arkansas State University who spoke on “Air Lift Balloon Type Bioreactor: Platform for Commercial Production of Plant Based Small Molecules and Tissues” and Chunzhao Liu, Chinese Academy of Sciences who spoke on “Novel Plant Reactors for Pharmaceuticals Production”.

Later Tuesday morning, Paul J. Price, D-Finitive Cell Technologies, and Raziel S. Hakim, Howard University convened an Animal Symposium entitled “Stem Cells, Plasticity, and Regenerative Medicine”. Speakers included Kazuhiro Sudo, Riken BioResource Center who spoke on “Mesenchymal Progenitors Able to Differentiate into Osteogenic, Chondrogenic, and/or Adipogenic Cells In Vitro are Present in Most Primary Fibroblast-like Cell Populations” and Kiyohito Yagi, Osaka University who spoke on “Induction of Hepatocyte-like Cells from Mesenchymal Stem Cells and the Transplantation into Liver-injured Rats”.

On Tuesday afternoon, Eugene Elmore, University of California – Irvine and Monika Schmelz, University of Arizona Health Sciences Center convened an Animal Symposium entitled “Stem Cells in Cancer Research and Therapy”. Darryl K. Shibata, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine spoke on “Stem Cells: Ancestors in a Somatic Cell Tree”, Ichiro Nakano, UCLA School of Medicine spoke on “Mechanism of Self-renewal of Brain Tumor Stem Cells” and, Monika Schmelz, University of Arizona Health Sciences Center spoke on “Prostate Tissue Homeostasis”

In addition, Kim O’Connor, Tulane University moderated an Animal Contributed Paper Session entitled “Animal Cell Biotechnology” and Lia H. Campbell, Cell and Tissue Systems, Inc. Moderated an Animal Interactive Poster Session entitled “Stem Cell Biology and Cancer Drug Development” on Tuesday.

On Wednesday June 18, Sylvia A. Mitchell, University of the West Indies and David D. Songstad, Monsanto convened a Plenary Symposium entitled “Biofuels – A Ripe Field for Research or Not? Michael Edgerton, Monsanto Company spoke on “The Impact of Improved Traits and Genetics on Biofuel Production”, Luciano Nass, USDA-ARS, and David Ellis, USDA-ARS spoke on “70 Years of Lessons on Biofuel Production from Brazil” and, Sylvia Adjoa Mitchell, University of the West Indies spoke on “Biofuel Development in the Caribbean – The Pros and Cons”.

This was followed by the Animal Symposium “Emerging Technologies” convened by Linda B. Jacobsen, Berit Biotech, LLC. Speakers included Yama Abassi, ACEA Biosciences Inc who spoke on “Using Cell Sensor Impedance Technology for Label-free and Real-time Cell-based Assays”, George Rogers, Seahorse BioScience who spoke on “Extracellular Flux Measurements Provide a New Window on Cellular Bioenergetics” and, Jennifer Blain Christien, Arizona State University who spoke on “A Hybrid CMOS/PDMS Microsystem for Autonomous Cell Culture and Incubation”.

Guido F. Caputo, Secretary – IVACS Section
[email protected]