On February 12, 2009 Thomas LaBean will be leading a discussion on Searching Sequence Space for Functional Biomolecules.     

Location: 4219 French Family Science Center

Time: 1:00 – 2:00 pm

Abstract: Evolutionary change occurs by altering the sequence of a protein’s amino acid residues or an RNA/DNA’s nucleobases. Thus, biological evolution can be thought of as a walk within the space of possible biomolecular sequences. By understanding the underlying structure of sequence space and the distribution and clustering of interesting biopolymer properties, we can glean otherwise hidden information about not only the processes of evolution but about biomolecular folding, structure, and function. We might ask: How common are protein sequences that fold to a stable 3D shape? Where are the majority of such folding sequences located? Similar questions can be asked for functional RNA molecules. Mapping the distributions of molecular properties across sequence spaces is a novel and useful strategy in molecular engineering.