SynBERC:Seminar series/Andy Ellington

Nucleic Acid Parts for Synthetic Biology Andy Ellington, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin Wednesday, April 11, 2007 3:00-4:00pm Central Daylight time Prairie View A&M University The Ellington lab is primarily interested in the evolutionary engineering of molecules, pathways, and organisms, and the application of these efforts to real world problems. The research team evolves functional RNA molecules that can function as diagnostic and therapeutic reagents, including RNA molecules that inhibit the replication of HIV-1 and tumor cells. Functional RNAs and other components are combined into synthetic genetic circuits that can be used to control gene expression during gene therapy. The lab is also involved in the development of novel chimeras between biology and chemistry, including minimal replicators that can evolve outside of cells, light-dependent signal transduction pathways, and organisms that utilize unnatural amino acids in their proteomes.