Polymer Brushes, Chemical Engineering, Biomolecular Engineering
Aaron Turkewitz
Membrane Traficking, Cell Biology
Unified by our desire to create new materials, our faculty work collaboratively across a wide array of scientific disciplines
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Prospective Graduate Students
Graduate students should apply to one of the doctoral programs listed below.
Prospective Postdoctoral Scholars
Postdoctoral Scholars should apply directly to one of faculty listed above.
Prospective Undergraduate Students
Undergraduate students should apply directly to the College.
Epigenetics and Epitranscriptomics
Mechanisms of nucleic acid modification and demodification
DNA is not merely a combination of four genetic nucleobases, A, T, C, and G. It also contains modifications that play crucial roles throughout biology. We study the pathways and mechanisms of these modifications. For example, 5-methylcytosine (5-mC), servs as a fifth DNA base. It constitutes 2-8% of the total cytosines in human genomic DNA and impacts a broad range of biological functions. Recently, the presence of oxidized 5-mC, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC), 5-formylcytosine (5-fC), and 5-carboxylcytosine (5-caC), have been discovered in mammalian cells and tissues as the sixth, seventh, and eighth DNA bases.
Learn more about Epigenetics and Epitranscriptomics from the groups below.
Protein Engineering
Dictating folding and dynamics
Proteins represent one of the fundamental functional building blocks of biology. Proteins and enzymes dictate the structures, chemical dynamics, and molecular recognition throughout nature. We seek to create novel proteins with tailored function. We seek to explore fundamentals of protein dynamics, folding, and function while developing new peptides for catalysis and therapeutic applications.
Learn more about Protein Engineering from the groups below.
Synthetic Biology
Programming Biology
We create new biologcal constructs with novel function and behavior. From artificial metalloenzymes, to catalysis, to binding of heavy metals, we design and synthesize new functionality in to organisms and biomolecules.
Learn more about Synthetic Biology from the groups below.
Proteomics
Identifying and Controlling Novel Biology
By integrating chemical synthesis, cell biology and mass spectrometry platforms, we seek to identify novel biological mechanisms underlying diseases such as diabetes and cancer, and to subsequently develop innovative diagnostic and therapeutic modalities to impact these disorders. We develop new chemical tools and technologies to study complexity and dynamics in the proteome, thus enabling targeted manipulation of protein targets and the pathways they govern.
Learn more about Proteomics from the groups below.
Drug Discovery
Creating Novel Therapeutics
Chemical synthesis plays an increasingly significant role in the advancement of the life sciences. Our program aims to explore and further advance this paradigm by developing enabling chemical transformations, translating chemical diversity to cell-regulatory function, and providing an arsenal of new small-molecule agents for basic and translational biomedical research.
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Molecular Evolution
Evolving Novel Function
We study how cells adapt at the molecular level, focusing on the process of translation of cellular genetic information into protein molecules. Our analyses extend from the near-instantaneous cellular responses to environmental stress to the multi-million-year evolutionary divergence of species Through a combination of molecular evolution and protein design, we can create activity-responsive RNA polymerases that respond to enzymatic activities, molecular interactions, light, and small molecules. We are now deploying the this technology to create new rapid evolution platforms and as new control elements for cellular engineering
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Biomaterials
Nature's macromolecular assemblies
Biology has evolved function for billions of years. Proteins, lipids, and glyco-proteins form elaborate networks with incredible structures and functions. Cytoskeletons exert force. Photosynethtic light harvesting antennae power and feed the planet. Membranes provide the interfaces that define biology.
Learn more about Biomaterials from the groups below.
Molecular Imaging
Linking structure to function
We can't understand what we can't see. Imaging with chemical specificity at or below the diffraction limit enables new probes of biology and materials.
Learn more about Molecular Imaging from the groups below.
Biosensing
Lighting up life
Biosensing is an exciting frontier in chemical biology that offers unparalleled opportunities for designing groundbreaking advances in medical diagnostics and novel research platforms. The intellectual area spans artifical materials like nanorods and nanowires to naturally occurring biosensors and bioswitches. For example, the iconic double helical structure of DNA has excited the imagination of both scientists and non-scientists for more than six decades. In recent times, the programmable nature of nucleic acid assemblies has re-established its use as a powerful building material for the construction of precisely defined 2D and 3D nanoscale assemblies. Similarly, several nucleic acid based devices exist in nature: riboswitches, ribozymes and long non-coding RNAs to name a few. We also want to understand how some of these nucleic acid based devices function, in the hope that we may someday be able to use the lessons learned to engineer smarter synthetic devices.
Learn more about Biosensing from the groups below.
