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SUMMARY:Engineering Bioinspired Molecular Networks and Synthetic Cells - P
 rof. Tom De Greef\, TU Eindhoven
DTSTART:20190118T160000Z
DTEND:20190118T170000Z
UID:TALK111133@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lorenzo Di Michele
DESCRIPTION:Complex signalling networks enable living cells to process inf
 ormation from their environment using an intricate network of regulatory i
 nteractions. These biochemical circuits function by converting an input si
 gnal (stimulus) through spatiotemporal interplay of signalling molecules (
 transduction) to an output response (function). Inspired by biology\, we e
 ngineer a range of minimalistic\, artificial signalling systems by employi
 ng a cell-free bottom-up strategy. Such simplified model systems composed 
 of fewer species each with well-defined interactions could help isolate ke
 y molecular parameters and thus have the potential to uncover generalizabl
 e concepts. In this lecture I will discuss the influence of molecular scaf
 folds on caspase catalysis\, retroactivity in bistable circuits and a synt
 hetic cellular consortium that is able to communicate by DNA-based message
 s. \n\nBio:\nTom de Greef studied Biomedical Engineering at Eindhoven Univ
 ersity of Technology (TU/e\, the Netherlands)\, where he received his MSc 
 degree cum laude in 2004. He then started his PhD research at the TU/e dep
 artment of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry\, where he graduated in 2008
  on a thesis on novel polymeric materials based on quadruple hydrogen-bond
 ing motifs\, supervised by professors E. W. (Bert) Meijer and Rint Sijbesm
 a. He subsequently moved to the Computational Biology group at the TU/e de
 partment of Biomedical Engineering (TU/e) headed by Prof. Peter Hilbers\, 
 for postdoctoral research on self-assembling systems from a computational 
 perspective. In 2010\, he became assistant professor and in 2016 he was pr
 omoted to associate professor. In 2013\, Tom de Greef was a visiting schol
 ar in the group of Prof. David Weitz at Harvard University (Cambridge\, US
 A)\, working on protein affinity screening using droplet microfluidics. In
  2015 he received an ERC starting Grant and in 2016 an NWO VIDI grant. Tom
  de Greef is a core member of the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems 
 (ICMS)\, a core member of the Dutch Gravitation program "Functional Molecu
 lar Systems" and a junior faculty member of the Gravitation program "Mater
 ials-Driven Regeneration". He received the 2017 Cram Lehn Pedersen prize i
 n supramolecular chemistry\, and in 2018 he was awarded a Microsoft PhD sc
 holarship for the development of a DNA computer.\n 
LOCATION:Ryle Seminar Room\, Cavendish Laboratory
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