NSF Grant Supports Chemist's Work to Expand Genetic Code

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05/11/2016 Added

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A University of Nebraska-Lincoln researcher envisions expanding the genetic code to create innumerable possibilities for research and commercial applications. Chemist Jiantao Guo works on a method for creating new amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. He earned a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation to support his project.

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[00:00:03.200]Imagine being able to redesign biology,
[00:00:06.221]to make a better medical therapy,
[00:00:08.180]or improve crop yields.
[00:00:10.200]Jiantao Guo combines chemistry principles with biology
[00:00:13.721]to expand the genetic code,
[00:00:16.340]and improve what nature has to offer.
[00:00:19.700]Protein are essential for virtually every biological
[00:00:23.080]process in nature, so if we can generate a protein
[00:00:26.841]which has normal functions, so in turn, we probably
[00:00:30.621]can generate a biological system which we can not
[00:00:33.740]really generate in nature.
[00:00:36.000]In his lab, Guo introduces multiple
[00:00:38.760]artificial Amino acids, the building blocks of protein
[00:00:41.721]as a way to add functionality.
[00:00:44.880]This one is a purified protein, so you can see
[00:00:47.281]it's a clear solution.
[00:00:48.700]For example, this protein
[00:00:50.440]with an artificial Amino acid glows under UV light.
[00:00:54.601]You can see this one, this protein contains
[00:01:00.238]that artificial Amino acid
[00:01:01.860]which makes this protein fluorescent, but this one...
[00:01:04.620]In nature, an Amino acid is encoded
[00:01:07.340]using a sequence of 3 neucleotides called a codon.
[00:01:11.421]Guo expands the genetic code by using codons
[00:01:14.840]with 4 neucleotides.
[00:01:16.800]In nature we have 64 triple codons,
[00:01:20.160]but with the quadruple codons, we'll have a 256 codon table,
[00:01:25.640]so this will allow us to include more
[00:01:29.300]Amino acid building blocks for protein biosynthesis.
[00:01:32.140]More Amino acids lead to new possibilities.
[00:01:35.760]If we have a protein that is synthesized not
[00:01:40.940]from 20 Amino acids, but from 100 different Amino acid,
[00:01:45.500]then we could generate a protein which has normal function
[00:01:48.601]for us to either, for therapeutic applications,
[00:01:52.500]for generation of normal biomaterials,
[00:01:55.500]or to study natural biological systems.
[00:02:00.057]A career award from the National Science
[00:02:02.194]Foundation allows Guo to expose others
[00:02:04.620]to the expanding frontier between chemistry and biology.
[00:02:08.440]Mostly we will provide research opportunities
[00:02:12.600]to undergrad students and high school students,
[00:02:15.600]and also this research will be integrated
[00:02:18.000]into my teaching.
[00:02:20.961]It's no surprise Guo is at home in the lab.
[00:02:24.241]His parents were chemists, and he loves a good mystery.
[00:02:28.201]Research is like a mystery, so you have something
[00:02:31.560]you don't understand, but after your effort
[00:02:34.263]and your research, you really understand that,
[00:02:38.041]to solve a puzzle, so that is really satisfactory to me.
[00:02:42.501]He hopes his research will help solve
[00:02:44.660]a mystery behind some of life's most basic functions.

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NSF Grant Supports Chemist's Work to Expand Genetic Code

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