REINTERPRETING THE GENETIC CODE: FROM POLYMERS TO PROTEOMICS

Presenter David A. Tirrell is the Ross McCollum-William H. Corcoran Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Director of the Beckman Institute, at the California Institute of Technology.

Over the last decade, cells have been outfitted with modified translational machinery that enables the participation of an expanded set of amino acids in protein synthesis, and that allows scientists and engineers to “reinterpret” the genetic code by redefining codon assignments.  These developments have fostered a more unified view of the chemistry of natural and synthetic macromolecules and provided a basis for powerful new approaches to materials design and to temporally and spatially resolved analysis of biological processes.                       

For more information contact Ms. Shirley Nollette (206) 685-2002 or nolletts@uw.edu.