Biochemical technology goes to extremes: Exploring new dimensions of biological function

BIOT 152

Douglas S. Clark, clark@cchem.berkeley.edu, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California-Berkeley, 201 Gilman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720
A longstanding goal of our research has been the exploration and exploitation of biological systems beyond the environmental limits of conventional biotechnology. One source of both fascination and inspiration in this endeavor has been the extremophiles, the most stalwart of known life forms, which exemplify the breadth of biodiversity and represent a vast but still largely untapped source of new bioproducts and biomaterials. The adaptability of these resilient organisms is reflected by the robustness of enzymes themselves, which we and others have engineered to function in, if not prefer, myriad conditions outside the normal domain of biology, including nearly anhydrous solvents and other unusual media. This presentation will review some successes (and failures) in our efforts to expand the practical horizons of biochemical technology, which have led to the development of cellular and subcellular systems suitable for synthetic and diagnostic applications, including drug discovery and analysis, over a wide range of scales.
 

Marvin Johnson Award
11:30 AM-12:15 PM, Tuesday, 12 September 2006 Hilton San Francisco -- Plaza, Oral

Division of Biochemical Technology

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006