Molecular Engineering and Sciences Seminar Series Combining Large-scale Gene Synthesis and Multiplexed Assays to Explore Protein Function Abstract: The ability to build and functionally test DNA sequences is central to molecular biology and genetic engineering. Our laboratory attempts to scale this process by developing methods in gene synthesis and multiplexed functional assays to build and test hypotheses with orders of magnitude increased scale. I will first talk about a new gene synthesis technology called DropSynth that allows for the facile synthesis of gene libraries for vastly reduced costs to characterize protein functional landscapes. I will then discuss our recent development of multiplexed functional assays for G-protein coupled receptor activity in human cell lines. I will describe our use of this system to explore ligand-receptor interactions at unprecedented scale to examine mammalian olfactory receptors and human drug targets. Bio: Sri Kosuri is an Assistant Professor at UCLA in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. He was previously a member of the Advanced Technology Team in the Synthetic Biology Platform at the Wyss Institute. His postdoc was in George Church’s lab in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute from 2009-2011. From 2007-2009, he was the first employee of a biofuel startup called Joule Unlimited. He then got his ScD in Biological Engineering at MIT in Drew Endy’s lab and worked on understanding the development of a simple virus (T7) that infects E. coli. written a popular science book on Astrobiology. This weekly seminar brings together students, faculty and invited guests from various disciplines across campus to explore current trends in molecular engineering and nanotechnology. It is a forum for active interdisciplinary discussions. These talks are open to the public and attract a diverse audience of students and faculty. |