Engineering carbohydrate-active enzymes to enable continuous-flow biocatalysis.

To overcome the biggest health challenges facing society, we must learn how our cells operate at a fundamental level. Cells can be viewed as biological factories that possess different compartments (called organelles) which maintain stability, produce energy, and produce the essential biological building blocks for life (carbohydrates, nucleic acids, proteins, fats). However, the way many of these cellular compartments operate remains unknown. One cellular compartment, the Golgi, is found within every cell in the human body and helps to build proteins and complex sugars. The mysteries surrounding Golgi function can only be thoroughly understood and exploited if we are first able to build models that replicate such systems. This will allow us to understand how they operate, piece together the layers of complexity, and apply such findings to living cellular environments. In this research program we will undertake a highly interdisciplinary chemical biology approach to design and build a modular biocatalysis system that mimics Golgi function. This project is in line with the newly created Glycoscience Centre which is supported by cross-faculty research groups and external links in academia and industry.

Please quote FNS_APR2022 within your application.