Cafe Synthetique

Any Problems Signing Up - please email vr314@cam.ac.uk to sign up

Café Synthetique is the monthly meetup for the Cambridge synthetic and engineering biology community with informal talks, discussion and pub snacks. Speakers range from students and group leaders to industry professionals and entrepreneurs.

Talk One: Hew Phipps, Isomerase.
Title: Computationally modelling proteins for directed evolution at Isomerase - insights and applications in industry.

Talk Two: Irina Gostimskaya, Dept. Chemistry
Title: Engineering a non-natural photoenzyme
Summary: Enzymatic photocatalysis is a promising route to environmentally friendly and economical production of various compounds that benefits from a possibility of tight spatio-temporal regulation. It can be performed in purified protein solutions, cell lysates or even microbial cultures in vivo due to its non-invasive, biologically compatible nature. Achieving efficient decarboxylation of organic acids has always been desirable for biotechnological processes, particularly in the area of biofuel production, because of the abundance of fatty acids in living cells. Decarboxylation can also serve as a potential route to fine chemicals with various organic acids as starting material. In my talk I will share some (unpublished) data on engineering a non-natural FMN-dependent photo-decarboxylase from an enzyme which, in its native state, is deactivated by light. I will explain the rationale behind the design and the semi-highthroughput approach to directed evolution guided by the molecular structure of the enzyme.

It would be great to see the community coming together again with free aromi food available! Drinks available to purchase at the bar. We look forward to seeing you at the Panton Arms, Cambridge.

Places are limited to 35. Please rsvp sign up here with full name. Any Problems Signing Up - please email vr314@cam.ac.uk to sign up