Tuesday, July 13

Synthetic Biology: From Bugs to Drugs

In the 50 years since James Watson and Francis Crick's paper on the double-helix structure of DNA changed forever our view of human biology, a new scientific revolution has been taking place in scientific labs and classrooms around the globe. "Science itself is evolving, and now the methods we use and the questions we ask are more interdisciplinary than ever," says Jay Keasling, professor of chemical engineering at UC Berkeley, and chair of a new department at LBNL devoted to a brand new field -- synthetic biology.

Keasling's recent research on the anti-malarial drug artemisinin best illustrates this emerging field. Known to the Chinese for 2,000 years as the herbal medicine qinghaosu, artemisinin is effective against malaria strains now resistant to frontline drugs. But the drug is currently too expensive for widespread use in Africa and South America, where it's most needed. Keasling's research team combined genes from bacteria, yeast, and the wormwood plant, Artemesia annua, inside the common intestinal E. coli cell, and engineered them to produce artemisinin more cheaply, efficiently, and safely than is currently possible through either traditional fermentation methods or through chemical extraction from the wormwood plant.

Keasling's techniques for creating new metabolic pathways inside bacteria could be used to produce chemical precursors to many plant-derived drugs and chemicals, such as antibiotics, the anticancer drug Taxol, and food additives.

"We tinker with cells," says Keasling. "We retool the metabolism in cells to make molecules that would either be made by plants or that aren't found naturally, or to degrade toxic substances in the environment. And the advantage of doing this is that we can do in a single enzymatic step what might take ten steps to do synthetically, using synthetic organic chemistry." This metabolic engineering of microbes, essentially co-opting the microbe's metabolism for our own benefit, could replace the expensive and polluting techniques common in the chemical industry today. Keasling will talk about the artful blending of chemistry, biology, and engineering necessary to take these next steps.

WHEN: 6:30 p.m., July 13

WHERE: Pyramid Alehouse, 901 Gilman St., Berkeley.

We've arranged for the Cellarman's buffet, which consists of:

• Mixed green salad with herb vinaigrette
• Honey chicken breast with salsa fresca
• Blackened salmon with citrus aioli
• Roasted seasonal vegetables
• Alehouse rice pilaf
• Garlic mashed potatoes
• Tea and coffee
• Brownies for dessert

No host bar for wine, beer or non-alcoholic beverages. Lots of good draught beer, and excellent root beer too.

SCHEDULE:
6:30-7:30 Happy Hour
7:30-8:30 Dinner
8:30-9:30 Speaker

COST: $24.00 per person and $20.00 for students
**THIS IS A DEAL: NCSWA is subsidizing a portion of the costs to keep the price low.

Please make out a check to NCSWA and mail it to:

Robert Sanders
1512 Holly St.
Berkeley, CA 94703

IN ADDITION TO SENDING A CHECK, PLEASE INDICATE THE ENTREE YOU DESIRE. We must tell the restaurant the total for each dish by Friday, July 9.

CARPOOLING: For those interested in carpooling to the dinner, Karen Street again will play transportation matchmaker, matching up those of you wanting a ride with those who are driving. Contact her at karen_street@sbcglobal.net. She will mail out information as she receives it. Many thanks to all those who have offered rides in the past, enabling people to attend.