Natural products and botanical medicines: Lessons learned and future challenges

Summary Objectives: The Yearbook of Medical Informatics is published annually by the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and contains a selection of excellent papers on medical informatics research which have been recently published (www.yearbook.uni-hd.de). The 2003 Yearbook of Medical Informatics took as its theme the role of medical informatics for the quality of health care. In this paper, we will discuss challenges for health care, and the lessons learned from editing IMIA Yearbook 2003. Results and Conclusions: Modern information processing methodology and information and communication technology have strongly influenced our societies and health care. As a consequence of this, medical informatics as a discipline has taken a leading role in the further development of health care. This involves developing information systems that enhance opportunities for global access to health services and medical knowledge. Informatics methodology and technology will facilitate high quality of care in aging societies, and will decrease the possibilities of health care errors. It will also enable the dissemination of the latest medical and health information on the web to consumers and health care providers alike. The selected papers of the IMIA Yearbook 2003 present clear examples and future challenges, and they highlight how various sub-disciplines of medical informatics can contribute to this.

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Yeast-Based Biosynthesis of Natural Products From Xylose

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology ◽

10.3389/fbioe.2021.634919 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Jian Zha ◽

Miaomiao Yuwen ◽

Weidong Qian ◽

Xia Wu

Keyword(s):

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽

Natural Products ◽

Metabolic Engineering ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Commercial Production ◽

Scheffersomyces Stipitis ◽

Lignocellulosic Hydrolysates ◽

Yeast Strains ◽

Future Challenges ◽

Biomass Materials

Xylose is the second most abundant sugar in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Transformation of xylose into valuable chemicals, such as plant natural products, is a feasible and sustainable route to industrializing biorefinery of biomass materials. Yeast strains, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Scheffersomyces stipitis, and Yarrowia lipolytica, display some paramount advantages in expressing heterologous enzymes and pathways from various sources and have been engineered extensively to produce natural products. In this review, we summarize the advances in the development of metabolically engineered yeasts to produce natural products from xylose, including aromatics, terpenoids, and flavonoids. The state-of-the-art metabolic engineering strategies and representative examples are reviewed. Future challenges and perspectives are also discussed on yeast engineering for commercial production of natural products using xylose as feedstocks.

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