Tanja Kortemme - University of California, San Francisco

Gene Center Seminar Series

Host:

Roland Beckmann

Location:

Zoom Meeting. Please register here and we will send you the invitation link in time. Registration is required for non-members of the Gene Center only.

Abstract:

There has been exciting progress in the computational design of proteins with new structures, highlighting the potential to advance many applications in biological engineering, as well as to provide insights into the design principles of natural protein functions. Many significant challenges remain, both in the accuracy of current computational approaches, and in the complexity of protein geometries and functions that can be designed at present. I will discuss our recent progress with new computational methods and their applications. Our work includes (i) controlling a biological machine with light, (ii) controlling CRISPR/Cas9 function with small molecules to independently regulate individual genes, (iii) reshaping protein conformations for reprogrammed functions, (iv) engineering small molecule binding sites de novo to detect and respond to new small molecule signals in living cells, and (v) controlling protein shapes to create fold families for new functions.