Apr 27
Chemistry Majors' Student Comps Talk presented by
'Engineering Life: Exploring Novel Applications of Directed Evolution'
Wisdom Akpan, Brittany Brookner, Ben Byun, Isaac Donnell, Lydia Hanson, Hiroshi Nakajima, Phuong Nguyen, Austin Rae, Malavika Suresh, Aditya Vaze
We will explore the work of Andrew Ellington, a biochemist focused on synthetic evolution of biomolecules and organisms. Specifically, we will describe the techniques used in directed evolution, including molecular screening and selection. While Ellington began his career with evolving RNA to create aptamers, he has since moved on to evolving biomolecules of increased complexity. We will discuss the challenges associated with evolving proteins and organisms and present several examples of how Ellington’s lab has developed techniques to address these challenges. Ultimately, the techniques developed by the Ellington lab not only reveal novel approaches to improving the overall quality of biomolecules, but also provide a stepping stone into promising future studies on innovative evolutionary biochemical synthesis. We will present Professor Andrew Ellington usage of directed evolution Friday, April 27th at 3:30pm in Olin 149. We look forward to discussing our findings with you all!