Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Birte Höcker, University of Bayreuth, Germany

Title: Learning from nature how to design new proteins

Abstract:

Proteins are the machines of life. These diverse macromolecules are essential for all cellular processes. Nature has generated an impressive set of proteins through evolution. Many protein structures and even more protein sequences are known by now. This enormous set of data can be used on the one hand to learn about the evolutionary history and how different proteins came about. On the other hand, we can extract information to be applied in the design of new tailor-made proteins. The ability to design custom proteins, such as reagent antibodies, biosensors or enzymes, is a major goal in protein biochemistry and will be necessary to tackle global challenges that we face today. Here I will discuss different approaches and show some highlights from our work on designing complex proteins.

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