Realizing the value of plant natural products: from metabolic engineering to biorefining 2012

Plants produce a wide range of natural products with valuable activities as pharmaceuticals, nurtaceuticals, crop protection agents, food ingredients and personal care products. With a growing public interest in 'naturals' and policy drivers to increase sustainability of chemical production, there is now a major opportunity for biotechnologists to increase the supply and diversity of phytochemicals available for industrial applications. In this meeting these opportunities will be reviewed, along with the approaches being employed nationally to meet this demand using a combination of plant breeding, metabolic engineering and biorefining.