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SUMMARY:Cafe Synthetique: Designing Molecular Machines - Zakir Tnimov (Chi
 n Lab\, MRC LMB)\, Eduardo Gianni (Holliger Lab\, MRC LMB)
DTSTART:20181217T180000Z
DTEND:20181217T200000Z
UID:TALK116011@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Alexandra Ting
DESCRIPTION:Café Synthetique is the monthly meetup for the Cambridge synt
 hetic biology community with informal talks\, discussion and pub snacks. I
 t is kindly sponsored by Cambridge Consultants. This month\, we'll be hear
 ing talks on designing complex RNA machines. \n\n"Controlling orthogonal r
 ibosome subunit interactions enables evolution of new function"\nZakir Tni
 mov (Chin Lab\, MRC LMB)\n\nRibosomes are the molecular machines that tran
 slate genetic information into proteins\, which are polymers with a define
 d sequence of amino acids\, linked by peptide bonds. The chemical repertoi
 re of proteins is limited to twenty-one canonical amino acids connected by
  the universally conserved peptide backbone. We aim to combine precise rib
 osomal polymer synthesis with the versatile repertoire of backbone chemist
 ries from synthetic polymers.\n\nWe created a host-independent (orthogonal
 ) ribosome where small and large subunits are connected via RNA hinge and 
 via optimisation of this linker we minimised its association with the host
  ribosome subunits and improved its activity. Physically connecting riboso
 me subunits let us endow the large subunit via directed evolution to polym
 erize a sequence of monomers that the natural ribosome is intrinsically un
 able to translate.\n\nRef\ndoi:10.1038/s41586-018-0773-z\n\n----\n\n"Engin
 eering a self-replicating RNA machine"\nEduardo Gianni (Holliger Lab\, MRC
  LMB)\n\nCurrent biological systems use an intricate interaction of DNA\, 
 RNA and proteins to achieve self-sustained replication. It is not clear ho
 w such apparatus could arise spontaneously at the origins of life\, and it
  is thought to have been preceded by a simpler framework where RNA was act
 ing both as genetic information and catalyst for replication. It is imposs
 ible to look back at how this system worked\, but synthetic biology provid
 es us with the tools to build complex RNA machinery from scratch reminisce
 nt of these primordial enzymes. We have recently developed an RNA enzyme (
 i.e. ribozyme) that is capable of copying a variety of RNA sequences\, inc
 luding parts of itself. This talk will focus on the evolution of such a ri
 bozyme\, its capabilities and the challenges ahead.\n
LOCATION:Panton Arms 43 Panton Street CB2 1HL\, Cambridge
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