The 2022 Annual Conference of the Intestinal Flora Academic Subgroup at the Biophysical Society of China (BSC) and the Laoshan Academic Forum on Gut Microbiota opened in Qingdao, a coastal city of East China's Shandong province, on Aug 24.

The event was hosted by the BSC Intestinal Flora Academic Subgroup, supported by the General Microbiology Professional Committee of the Chinese Society for Microbiology (CSM) and the Beijing Gut Biotechnology Academy, and undertaken by the State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology at Shandong University.

Liu Shuangjiang, chairperson of the BSC Intestinal Flora Academic Subgroup, presides over the opening ceremony of the forum, on Aug 24. [Photo/bsc.org.cn]

Liu Shuangjiang, chairperson of the BSC Intestinal Flora Academic Subgroup and a professor at Shandong University, presided over the opening ceremony.

Those in attendance of the opening ceremony included officials and representatives from the local government in Qingdao and academic circles.

Liu Pingsheng, director-general of the BSC, read the congratulatory letter from BSC President Xu Tao.

In a prerecorded speech, Xu, also an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said that studies on gut microbiota is a frontier academic discipline filled with uncertainties and challenges, and that he hopes that the conference will promote exchanges and cooperation among experts, facilitate interdisciplinary integration and draw up a plan for the long-term development of intestinal research.

An expert gives a speech at the 2022 Annual Conference of the BSC Intestinal Flora Academic Subgroup and the Laoshan Academic Forum on Gut Microbiota. [Photo/bsc.org.cn]

Zhao Guoping, a CAS academician and honorary president of the forum, explained his research progress in a report entitled “Intestinal Microbiota and Human Health: Studying and Resolving Problems".

CAS Academician Chen Zijiang, also an honorary president of the forum, delivered a report on gut microbiota and the latest findings in the research of women's reproductive health.

Yin Yulong, another honorary president of the forum and an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, talked about intestinal microbiota, the research progress in fat metabolism and the prospect of the application of intestinal microorganism in his report.

Professor Jiang Changtao, from Peking University, and Professor Liu Hongwei, from the CAS Institute of Microbiology, presented lectures on the interactive regulation between gut microbiota and agent metabolism and on the targeted regulation of intestinal flora by active molecules in medicinal fungi.

The forum consisted of seven parallel sessions, namely: "basic research on the interaction and functions of gut microbiota", "cohort and clinical studies on gut microbiota and chronic diseases", "gut microbiota and immunity", "new technologies in data exploration and representation of gut microbiota", "intervention and application of gut microbiota", a youth forum and a dialogue between journal editors and young scholars.

During the parallel sessions, 48 professionals delivered their academic reports.

An expert gives a speech at the 2022 Annual Conference of the BSC Intestinal Flora Academic Subgroup and the Laoshan Academic Forum on Gut Microbiota. [Photo/bsc.org.cn]

The four-day forum drew the attendance of more than 400 experts and scholars from leading universities, research institutions and enterprises from home and abroad, who held extensive exchanges and discussions over frontier issues in gut microbiota, human life and health, and the development of China’s bio-industry.