CBC Seminar, Dr. Sasilada Sirirungruang - Unlocking new chemical possibilities with engineered biosynthesis.
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Unlocking new chemical possibilities with engineered biosynthesis.
Dr. Sasilada Sirirungruang
Modern sequencing efforts have revealed enormous biosynthetic potential of diverse natural systems. While biosynthesis presents a promising sustainable pathway to various molecules and has unlocked numerous bio-actives for human and planetary health, the characterization of the enzymatic machinery involved is often resource-intensive and suffers from technical complications. This talk will present my research journey addressing key challenges in biosynthetic enzyme engineering to fully realize its potential, through synthetic biology and high-throughput experimentation. My research has focused on repurposing biosynthetic enzymes to produce new classes of molecules that are otherwise challenging to create, namely complex organofluorines and glycosides. I generated novel organofluorines by polyketide synthase and microbial host engineering, and novel glycosides by large-scale substrate screening and predictive modeling. The two stories present complementary approaches to innovate biosynthetic apparatus for biotechnological applications.