China Medical University, Taiwan

Professor Yuan-Soon Ho is a distinguished scholar affiliated with China Medical University in Taiwan, where he serves as the Director of the Graduate Institute of Medical Science. He completed his doctorate in Biochemistry at National Taiwan University in 1994, after which he dedicated his career to advancing the fields of molecular biology and translational medicine. Throughout his extensive academic career, Professor Ho has built a reputation for bridging laboratory research with clinical applications, amassing a significant body of work that has garnered thousands of citations and established him as a leading figure in cancer research . Professor Ho’s primary research interests lie in oncology, molecular oncology, and cancer prevention. He is best known for his pioneering work on the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in breast tumor tissues. His research team demonstrated that these receptors act as cell growth-promoting factors, a discovery validated through sophisticated techniques such as siRNA knockdown and tet-off overexpression animal experiments. Beyond receptor biology, his work extensively investigates the anticancer effects of natural compounds, such as curcumin and tea polyphenols, as well as the regulatory roles of microRNA in disease progression. His current projects often focus on triple-negative breast cancer, exploring mechanisms involving hyaluronan synthesis and tumor microenvironments . In addition to his laboratory and administrative duties, Professor Ho contributes significantly to the global scientific community as an editorial board member for several prestigious journals, including Scientific Reports (Oncology field) and PLOS ONE. His work frequently appears in high-impact publications such as Nature Communications, Molecular Cell, and the Journal of Biomedical Science. Through his research on topics ranging from gene delivery using RNA nanoparticles to the effects of environmental factors on cancer, Professor Ho continues to influence modern approaches to targeted therapy and cancer diagnostics

Slovak University of Technology, Slovakia

Prof. Milan Certik, PhD. (director of Institute of Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of technology) is a team leader/lecturer and his research is focused on study and regulation of microbial production of biologically active lipophilic compounds by solid state and submerged fermentations and applications of these bioproducts in food/feed fields. An important part of his work also deals with gene engineering, characterization of the key gene coding biosynthesis of biologically active compounds and their functional expression in microorganisms and plants. The work links classical biotechnology and agrobiotechnology as well as microbial and plant genomic and metabolomic with the aim to improve nutritional properties of agro-sources into high-valued bioproducts. He has published 178 scientific and special papers, 1 book and 12 chapters in books and participated in 450 conference contributions (36 Keynote/Invited lectures). He has stayed at several Universities/Institutions over the World (e.g. Japan, Thailand, USA, Taiwan, France, Greece, Norway…).

Speech title "Biotechnology as a Useful Tool for Functional Improvement of Cereals Enriched with Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Pigments"

Abstract: Cereals represent a major agro-based food supply for humanity. Although they are rich in proteins, carbohydrates and certain micronutrients, they are deficient in several biologically active lipophilic compounds such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and pigments. With the aim to naturally prepare functional cereals enriched with PUFAs and carotenoids, biotechnological techniques based on solid state fermentations and genetic engineering have been applied. Zygomycetous filamentous fungi (Thamnidium sp., Cunninghamella sp., Mucor sp., Umbelopsis sp., Mortierella sp.) serve as not only useful producers of PUFAs and carotenoids but also provide necessary genes involved into biosynthetic pathways of these metabolites. The fungi during solid state fermentations effectively utilize and transform raw cereal substrates to cereal-based bioproducts containing high amounts of valuable PUFAs and carotenoids. Depending on the strain, types of cereal substrates and cultivation conditions, a range of cereal-based bioproducts enriched with PUFAs (up to 2.4% gamma-linolenic acid, 4.2% arachidonic acid, 2.1% dihomo-gamma linolenic acid, 2.3% eicosapentaenoic acid) and pigments (260 mg beta-carotene/kg prefermented cereals) have been prepared. These agro-based bioproducts have been successfully employed for making cereal goods and tested as a feed additive for animal diet. The second biotechnological approach employs transformation of the fungal fatty acid desaturase gene into cereals. The D6-desaturase gene from the fungus Thamnidium elegans has been optimized for cereals and transformed under endosperm specific promoter into barley and wheat by the biolistic method. The presence of D6-desaturase gene was confirmed in all transgenic cereals. Introduction of the D6-desaturase gene to cereals resulted in preparation of transgene barley and wheat consisting of gamma-linolenic (up to 0.22% from total content of fatty acids) and stearidonic acids (up to 0.35%). So biotechnologically modified PUFA-enriched cereals may open novel prospects for the market of functional cereal-based food and feed supplements.