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October 2024

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Fwd: Special Solvay Institutes Scholar seminar-- Alexis Komor Nov 6, 11am
by Eline De Winter 21 Oct '24

21 Oct '24

> From: "Thomas Jacobs" <thomas.jacobs(a)psb.vib-ugent.be> > To: "research" <research(a)psb.vib-ugent.be> > Cc: "seminar" <seminar(a)psb.vib-ugent.be> > Sent: Monday, October 21, 2024 10:16:22 AM > Subject: Re: Special Solvay Institutes Scholar seminar-- Alexis Komor Nov 6 > Dear all, > Just a reminder about the special seminar on November 6. Please see the attached > flyer. > cheers, > Tom > ----- On 7 Oct, 2024, at 09:23, Thomas Jacobs <thomas.jacobs(a)psb.ugent.be> > wrote: > Dear all, > On November 6, Alexis Komor will be visiting VIB-UGent as part of the > prestigious Solvay Institutes New Horizons Lectures in chemistry > http://www.solvayinstitutes.be/html/new_horizons.html . Alexis is probably best > known for her development of CRISPR Base Editing technology during her postdoc > in David Liu's lab at the Broad (more information below). I am currently > putting the program together and are looking for any PIs, postdocs or students > who would be interested to meet with her. If you are interested, please send me > an email. Students and postdocs, we will also arrange a lunch to meet and > discuss with Alexis. > More details on her research and talk below. > cheers, > Tom > Dr. Alexis Komor, Assistant Professor, UCSD > Title: Engineering and Evolving Nucleic Acid Modifying Enzymes > Base editors (BEs) are comprised of a catalytically inactivated Cas9 (dCas9 or > Cas9n) tethered to a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) modifying enzyme, which > directly chemically modifies target nucleobases within a “base editing window”. > Two classes of base editors exist, which use cytosine and adenine deamination > chemistries to catalyze the conversion of C•G base pairs to T•A (CBEs), and A•T > base pairs to G•C (ABEs), respectively. These transition mutations > (purine-purine or pyrimidine-pyrimidine) are mediated by uracil (cytosine > deamination) or inosine (adenine deamination) intermediates, and occur with > high efficiencies (up to 90% conversion) with little to no competing indel > formation. Expansion of the BE toolbox to include transversion editors will > require engineering of new nucleic acid editing enzymes. As ABEs were developed > by engineering and evolving a tRNA adenosine deaminase enzyme, TadA, into a > ssDNA adenosine deaminase enzyme, TadA7.10, the development of future BEs may > be accomplished by converting additional tRNA modifying enzymes into ssDNA > editing enzymes. In this talk I will describe my lab’s efforts to > mechanistically understand how current BE enzymes function. The enhanced > understanding of how known DNA editing enzymes function, and in particular how > wtTadA was converted into TadA7.10, can inform the development of future DNA > editing enzymes. > Background > The Komor lab focuses on four main research programs: 1, Development Of New > Precision Genome Editing Methodologies; 2, Mechanistic Characterization Of > Nucleic Acid Editing Enzymes; 3, Mechanistic Understanding Of Cellular > Processing Of Genome Editing Intermediates; and 4, Clinical Characterization Of > Human Genetic Variants. > Alexis received her B. S. degree in chemistry from the University of California, > Berkeley in December of 2008. She then joined the lab of Jacqueline K. Barton > at the California Institute of Technology for her doctoral studies. While at > Caltech, she worked as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow on the design, > synthesis, and study of DNA mismatch-binding metal complexes and received her > Ph.D. in 2014. She pursued postdoctoral work as a Ruth L. Kirschstein NIH > Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of David R. Liu, where she developed base > editing, a new approach to genome editing that enables the direct, irreversible > chemical conversion of one target DNA base into another in a programmable > manner, without requiring double-stranded DNA backbone cleavage. Alexis joined > the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California at > San Diego in 2017, where her lab develops and applies new precision genome > editing techniques to the functional genomics field. Alexis’s contributions in > teaching, mentoring, and research have been recognized through many awards, > including the Cottrell Scholar Award, the “Talented 12” recognition by C&EN > News, an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, an NIH early > stage investigator Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA), and a “40 > under 40” recognition in healthcare by Fortune Magazine. > Thomas Jacobs - Group leader > Plant Genome Editing > VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology > Ghent University > Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 71 - 9052 Ghent - Belgium > Tel. +32(0)9 331 38 60 > [ http://www.psb.ugent.be/ | www.psb.ugent.be ] > Genome editing, cutting-edge technology for a sustainable agriculture

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