Paul Jaschke
Bio
I am now a Lecturer (equivalent of Assistant Professor) of Synthetic Biology in the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Jaschke Lab @ Macquarie University
I started off my science career at the University of Alberta (Canada), working in the Casey and Michalak labs. Summer student work in the Casey Lab on the human sodium-bicarbonate co-transporter protein resulted in an authorship in a peer-reviewed publication. My honors project in the Michalak Lab had me determining the role of calcium signaling and calreticulin on murine embryonic stem cell differentiation. After achieving a B.Sc. (Honors) in Biochemistry in 2003 I went to the Beatty Lab at the University of British Columbia to start my Ph.D. While at UBC I discovered that a photosynthetic organism called Rhodobacter sphaeroides was capable of re-routing its chlorophyll biosynthetic machinery around a blockage to generate a new type of chlorophyll. November 2010 I was conferred a Ph.D in Microbiology and Immunology from UBC.
I was a post-doc in Drew Endy's lab at Stanford University from Nov 2010 - June 2015. The focus of my project was on redesign phage using both rational and combinatorial methods in order to finish the genetics of a simple system. In December 2012 we published the first report of a fully decompressed genome, using the bacteriophage øX174 as a model. This virus has shared many other firsts in the world of genomics and synthetic biology from being the first DNA genome sequenced by Frederick Sanger to the subject of claims of creating life in a test tube by watchers of Arthur Kornberg and Craig Venter et al.
Contact Info
- Paul R Jaschke
- Macquarie University
- Sydney, NSW, Australia
- paul.jaschke@mq.edu.au
Ph (USA): (650)-648-3815
Ph (AUS): 0415-329-107
I am a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at Macquarie University
Work
The Jaschke Lab bridges the fields of Synthetic Biology, Microbiology, Virology, and Systems Biology to answer fundamental questions of:
(1) how to discover all the components necessary to make a functional genome?
(2) how to reconfigure these components to make engineered genomes more reliable and predictable?
(3) how to engineer biology to benefit human health and reduce impacts on our environment?
We aim to answer important questions by pioneering the science and engineering of synthetic genomes by designing, building, testing, and learning from our designs.
Education
Post-doc in Bioengineering, Stanford University, USA (2015)
Ph.D. in Microbiology, University of British Columbia, Canada (2010)
B.Sc. in Biochemistry (First-Class Honors), University of Alberta, Canada (2003)
Publications
Ariel Hecht*, Jeff Glasgow*, Paul R. Jaschke*, Lukmaan Bawazer*, Matthew S. Munson, Jennifer Cochran, Drew Endy, Marc Salit. (2016). Measurements of translation initiation from all 64 codons in E. coli. Nucleic Acids Research. Accepted 23 Jan 2017. DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx070 Link
- Authors contributed equally to the paper as first authors.
Maxwell Bates, Aaron Berliner, Joe Lachoff, Paul R. Jaschke, Eli Groban. (2016). Wet Lab Accelerator: A Web-Based Application Democratizing Laboratory Automation for Synthetic Biology. ACS Synthetic Biology. Link
Paul Jaschke., Ju Lu Ph.D., Widya Mulyasasmita and Luke J. Lee. (2013). Incyte Pharmaceuticals Is Primed For A Run. Seeking Alpha. Link
Jaschke PR, Lieberman EK, Rodriguez J, Sierra A, Endy D. (2012). A fully decompressed synthetic bacteriophage øX174 genome assembled and archived in yeast. Virology (Cover). DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2012.09.020. Abstract PDF
Supplementary Files: Phage Assembled with Plasmid Sequence: pRS425::phiX174_1f // Redeployed Phage Sequence: phiX174_1f
Neupane B, Jaschke P, Saer R, Beatty JT, Reppert M, Jankowiak R. (2012). Electron Transfer in Rhodobacter sphaeroides Reaction Centers Containing Zn-Bacteriochlorophylls: A Hole-Burning Study. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. Mar 15; 116(10): 3457-3466. Abstract PDF
Jaschke PR, Hardjasa A, Digby E, Hunter CN, Beatty JT. (2011). A bchD (Mg-chelatase) mutant of Rhodobacter sphaeroides synthesizes zinc-bacteriochlorophyll through a novel zinc-containing intermediates. The Journal of Biological Chemistry Jun 10;286(23):20313-22. Abstract PDF
Jaschke PR, Saer RG, Noll S, Beatty JT. (2011). Modification of the genome of Rhodobacter sphaeroides and construction of synthetic operons. Methods in Enzymology. 497:519-38. Abstract PDF
Jaschke PR, Drake I, Beatty JT. (2009). Modification of a French pressure cell to improve microbial cell disruption. Photosynth Res. 102(1): 95-7. Abstract PDF
Jaschke PR. (2010). Discovery and characterization of a new zinc-bacteriochlorophyll biosynthetic pathway and photosystem in a magnesium-chelatase mutant. PhD Thesis. University of British Columbia. Abstract PDF
Lin S,Jaschke PR, Wang H, Paddock M, Tufts A, Allen JP, Rosell FI, Mauk GA, Woodbury NW, Beatty JT. (2009). Electron transfer in the Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction center assembled with zinc bacteriochlorophyll. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.106(21): 8537-42. Abstract PDF
Jaschke PR, LeBlanc HN, Lang AS, Beatty JT. (2008). The PucC protein of Rhodobacter capsulatus mitigates an inhibitory effect of light-harvesting 2 alpha and beta proteins on light-harvesting complex 1. Photosynthesis Research. 95(2-3): 279-84. Abstract PDF
Jaschke PR, Beatty JT. (2007). The photosystem of Rhodobacter sphaeroides assembles with zinc bacteriochlorophyll in a bchD (magnesium chelatase) mutant. Biochemistry. 46(43): 12491-500. Abstract PDF
Loiselle FB, Jaschke P, Casey JR. (2003). Structural and functional characterization of the human NBC3 sodium/bicarbonate co-transporter carboxyl-terminal cytoplasmic domain. Molecular Membrane Biology. 20(4): 307-17. Abstract PDF
Presentations
Paul R Jaschke, Jon Rodriguez, Adrian Sierra, Drew Endy. (2012). Redesign and Construction of Bacteriophage Genomes in Yeast. SynBERC Retreat. PDF
Jaschke PR and Beatty JT. (2010). Out of the Blue. In a mutant lacking the magnesium-chelatase complex, we find zinc-bacteriochlorophyll incorporated into the photosystem and a new way to make bacteriochlorophyll. PDF
Jaschke PR and Beatty JT. (2007). Discovery of zinc-bacteriochlorophyll in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. PDF
Mentored Student Alumni
Stanford
Kay Hung -> 3rd year Bioengineering undergrad at Stanford University
Erica Lieberman -> Bioengineering undergrad at Stanford University
Diane Liu -> 1st year Bioengineering undergrad at Northwestern University
Jon Rodriguez -> Chief Scientist for Epiphany Eyewear (http://www.epiphanyeyewear.com/)
Adrian Sierra -> Computer Science undergrad at Stanford University
University of British Columbia
Amelia Hardjasa -> Data Analyst at Pulse Energy
Tobie Patterson -> Analyst, Public Health Initiatives at Fraser Health Authority, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Elizabeth Digby -> Medical School at the University of Calgary, Canada
Connie Lee -> Physiotherapy in Victoria, BC, Canada
Professional Activities
Advisor, Mendeley reference manager software (08/2011 - Current)
Developed and taught classes at BioCurious community DIY bio lab (2011 - 2012)
Mentored inaugural UBC iGEM team and guided to gold medal Press: Students build tiny E.coli ‘traffic light’ (see pg.9) (01/2009 - 11/2009)
'Project Management' & 'Grant Writing for Research and Development' Workshops (10/2009)
Teaching assistant for senior level bioinformatics class at UBC (2005 - 2008)
Reviewer for PLOS ONE and Journal of Proteome Research (2004 - Current)
Elected Biochemistry Student Association executive member (09/2001 - 06/2003)
Useful links
Jaschke Lab @ Macquarie University Website
Rhodobacter sphaeroides on Wikipedia
Refactored øX174.1f genome sequence JX913857
Other
Teaching
BioCurious
Zamorano University Synthetic Biology Outreach Trip
--> Media Story of My Zamorano Trip (in Spanish)
Hobbies
Snowboarding
Hiking & Camping
Sailing