The Evolutionary “Design” of Protein Machines
Proteins are the nanoscale machines in cells that carry out nearly all of the functions necessary for life. Examples include antibodies that can bind to specific targets with great selectivity, enzymes that catalyze complex chemical reactions, and signaling molecules that process and transmit information about the external world. We call them “machines” because just like high-performance machines in our ordinary experience, they do their job through cycles of motions that seem finely tuned for their biological functions. But unlike man-made machines, proteins are evolved materials, built through a process that we do not yet understand and with designs for which we do not yet have good models. In this talk, I will present our understanding of the evolutionary “design” of proteins and will discuss both fundamental and practical insights that have emerged. Ultimately, the goals are to explain exactly what kind of machines proteins are, how they work, and why they are built the way they are through the process of evolution.
Rama Ranganathan’s research has focused on understanding the basic principles of structure, function, and evolution in biological systems, with a particular emphasis on the atomic and cellular scale. His work has led to new models for the architecture of natural proteins and new experimental tools for studying the physics and evolution of proteins and cellular systems.
Professor Rangansthan leads the UChicago Center for Physics of Evolving Systems and is the director of BioCARS beamline, which is a national user facility for structural biology located at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. He is also a member of the Institute for Molecular Engineering.
In 2016, Prof. Ranganathan received the Transformative Research Award from the National Institutes of Health Common Fund. He has also been honored with the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award for Basic Science from the Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas and the Glenn Award for Research.
For additional information on Rama Ranganathan’s research see:
Introducer and Co-host: Michael Brenner, Harvard University
