PME Immuno Special Seminar - Dr. Kai Chen

Exploring and Repurposing Nature’s Molecular Machinery for Applications in Chemistry and Biology

Proteins serve as nature’s molecular machinery, driving key biological processes for life’s adaptation to diverse environments. Directed evolution, inspired by natural mutagenesis and selection, is a powerful strategy to optimize proteins for human needs. During my PhD, I employed this strategy to repurpose heme-dependent enzymes into efficient carbene transferases, unlocking new biocatalytic activities unknown to nature. Beyond chemistry, directed evolution is crucial for optimizing biomolecules for biological applications. CRISPR-Cas genome-editing technology has revolutionized life sciences but still faces challenges in efficiency, off-target effects, immunogenicity, and delivery for therapeutic applications. In my postdoctoral work, I used directed evolution to enhance the specificity, stability, and efficiency of multiple CRISPR editors, which further enabled new delivery platforms for in vivo genome editing. This seminar will highlight how protein engineering, combined with emerging biotechnologies, addresses key challenges in chemistry and biology, offering transformative solutions from synthetic biology to therapeutic genome editing.