Nano-Technology for HIV Drugs, Self-Aware DNA and New Approaches to Alzheimer's at Bio-Tech Israel 2002

Business Editors and Health/Medical Writers BIO-TECH Israel 2002 Conference

TEL AVIV, Israel--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 31, 2002--Israel's first international biotechnology conference will take place in Tel Aviv on March 20-21, 2002 as part of National Biotechnology Week.

Bio-Tech Israel 2002 includes a Scientific Program comprising more than 40 presentations by leading life science researchers from Israel and by overseas presenters from the Serono Pharmaceutical Research Institute, AstraZeneca and Crucell B.V.

"Biotechnology has undergone dramatic growth in recent years, with Israeli scientists at the forefront of interdisciplinary fields such as bioinformatics, immunology and nanotechnology, owing to Israel's strength in cell biology, molecular biology, mathematics, physics and computer science," said Dr. David Haselkorn, Chairman of the Scientific Committee and CEO of Clal Biotechnologies Industries.

Original research to be made public at the conference includes:

• Nano-technology for detecting drug resistance in HIV patients (Prof. Itamar Willner, Hebrew University)
• The next stage in DNA computing -- Self-aware DNA can identify and solve problems (Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob,Tel-Aviv University)
• The GlycoChip -- The world's first biochip for analyzing protein-glycan interactions (Dr. Avinoam Dukler, Glycominds)
• New therapeutic approaches to Alzheimer's disease (Dr. Daniel Chain, Mindset)
• Computational tools that show how genes influence other genes via proteins (Prof. Ron Shamir, Tel-Aviv University)
• A combination of miniature plant and bioinformatic approaches to speed up seed development (Dr. Hagai Karchi of Compugen)
• Algorithms that accelerate drug development (Prof. H. Wolfson, Tel-Aviv University)
• Orally-delivered pro-drugs for currentinjection-only therapies (S. Fass, Lapid Pharmaceuticals)

The wide range of scientific topics will comprise four sessions:

• Enabling Technologies and Tools for the Development of BioProducts (including Ag Bio)
• Computer-Aided Drug Discovery and Bioinformatics (including Functional Genomics)
• Nano Biotechnology and Bio Electronics Drugs and
• Clinical Indications (Including Gene Therapy and Vaccines)

For more information about the Scientific Program and abstracts please visit:http://www.kenes.com/biotech/scientific.htm

KEYWORD: ISRAEL TRACK INTERNATIONAL AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS PHARMACEUTICAL SOFTWARE TRADESHOW SOURCE: BioIsrael Communications Ltd.