Further information
Dr Jason Chin from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge presents this seminar from the Division of Molecular Biosciences/ Department of Life Sciences.
Abstract: At the centre of the cell’s translational network is the ribosome, a highly conserved 2.5 MDa machine that synthesizes polypeptides using the information encoded in mRNAs. The natural ribosome is un-evolvable because mutations affect the translation of the entire proteome. We describe the creation of parallel and independent, or orthogonal, ribosomes in cells that specifically translate an orthogonal mRNA that is not a substrate for endogenous ribosomes, and do not translate cellular mRNAs. We demonstrate the creation of translational logic functions with multiple mutually orthogonal ribosomes. Moreover we evolve orthogonal ribosome decoding and demonstrate the modular combination of orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases that direct the incorporation of unnatural amino acids and evolved orthogonal ribosomes, highlighting how orthogonal genetic codes may be written on orthogonal mRNAs. Finally, we highlight the evolution and application of new translational components for understanding the effect of post-translational modifications on cellular function.
Biography:Jason Chin is a Group Leader at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology [MRC-LMB], and a fellow in the Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge University, where he is director of studies in biochemistry. Jason was an undergraduate at Oxford University, obtained his PhD with Alanna Schepartz as a Fulbright grantee at Yale University, and was a Damon Ruyon Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute with Peter Schultz. Jason joined the LMB in July 2003, becoming an EMBO Young Investigator in 2005 and a tenured group leader in 2007.
For more details contact Dr. Ernesto Cota, Room 702, Biochemistry Building, South Kensington, ext. 43689 (e.cota@imperial.ac.uk).