The Japanese biotechnology community has developed a unique system of scientific bilateral communications at the international level. It consists of closed seminars where a restricted number of speakers from Japan and a selected country are invited. Thereby the actual state of biotechnology is visualized very effectively and valuable information exchanged during the discussions and personal contacts. As a result strong relationships between several European and American countries have been built up during recent years and numerous colleagues from abroad have improved their knowledge of Japanese science, economy, and culture. The present volume reports on an American-Japanese meeting held in Moriyama, which is situated on the lovely Lake Biwa in Japan. The well prepared and efficiently organized event covered the major aspects of bioprocess engineering including animal and plant cell culture, biocatalysts, downstream processing, sensor and bioprocess control, as well as genetic engineering. Altogether a broad spectrum, indicating the strengths and weaknesses of the current efforts being made for the improvement of process technology and the search for new products.
