On 10th December, the Fourth Online Academic Forum on "Frontiers in Bionic Engineering" was successfully held via a Zoom conference, which was hosted by the International Society of Bionic Engineering (ISBE), Bionic Science and Engineering Institute of Jilin University and International Collaboration Center of Bionic Sci-Tech at Weihai Institute for Bionics-Jilin University. Prof. Pamela A. Silver from Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University was invited to share the latest research progress of her group in the field of designing biology for health and sustainability. The forum was presided over by Prof. Zhenning Liu, Dean of the Bionic Sciences and Engineering Institute of Jilin University. 

The engineering of biology presents infinite opportunities for therapeutic design, diagnosis, prevention of disease and solutions to environmental problems. Inspired by photosynthesis in nature, Prof. Pamela A. Silver and her team had developed an efficient artificial photosynthesis system based on a new Co-P catalyst for water splitting, which was cultured with bacteria Ralstonia eutropha. The conversion efficiency of this artificial system is much higher than that of natural photosynthesis. This type of "bionic leaf" may start a new "green revolution", which is expected to solve the long-existing energy problem, so as to realize the sustainable development of human society. 

Nearly 200 scholars and graduate students from over 50 universities and research institutes around the world attended the forum online, which included Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), Freiburg University (Germany), Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, D Y Patil Technical Campus (India), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Vanda University (South Africa), University of Panama, Chengdu Institute of Biology, CAS (China), City University of Hong Kong (China), Peking University (China), Tsinghua University (China), Zhejiang University (China), Wuhan University (China), East China Normal University (China), Jilin University (China), Dalian University of Technology (China), Xi'an University of Technology (China), Henan University of Science and Technology (China), Zhejiang University of Technology (China), Hohai University (China), etc. 

"Frontiers in Bionic Engineering" online academic forum is a series of academic   activities initiated by the Youth Commission of the ISBE. It aims to establish an academic exchange platform for the scholars on bionics around the world to share their latest research ideas and achievement and further promote the innovation cooperation as well as the development of bionic science. The activity has gained great attention and support of specialists, scholars and graduate students, and received enthusiastic responses.