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SUMMARY:Are there solutions for plastic degradation in protein sequence sp
 ace? - Professor Florian Hollfelder\, Department of Biochemistry\, Univers
 ity of Cambridge
DTSTART:20230220T193000Z
DTEND:20230220T210000Z
UID:TALK194014@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:John Cook
DESCRIPTION:Protein fitness landscapes (as introduced by Maynard Smith) ar
 e a powerful concept for describing sequence-function relationships by ill
 ustrating the vast combinatorial sequence space as functional hills and va
 lleys\, with an address defined by amino acid sequence combinations. This 
 metaphorical representation is often invoked to explain directed evolution
  experiments in protein engineering. Yet fitness landscapes are rarely ‘
 measured’ experimentally: the immense vastness of possible sequence/func
 tion spaces makes comprehensive high-quality datasets difficult to obtain.
  The combination of ultrahigh-throughput screening (with >10e7 assays in a
  day in microfluidic droplets )\, with next generation sequencing (based o
 n UMI-encoding) and the interpretation of such large datasets that charact
 erise genotype-phenotype maps\, is providing an opportunity for more syste
 matic exploration of large parameter spaces in protein engineering.\n\nThe
 se ideas will guide the search for new enzymes\, amongst them enzymes for 
 recycling and bioremediation of plastic waste in the environment. Modern l
 ife generates enormous amounts of plastic waste: 359 million tons of plast
 ics are produced annually worldwide\, of which 90% is produced from fossil
  fuels and 79% accumulates in landfill or in the natural environment. Coll
 ectively all these plastics create an environmental hazard. As Nature did 
 not encounter plastics for most of its evolutionary history\, plastic-degr
 ading enzymes with a metabolic role did not exist. Will we be able to find
  novel enzymes in the vastness of sequence space for entirely new\, non-na
 tural functions?
LOCATION:Location: Wolfson Lecture Theatre\, Churchill College\, and Zoom
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