EPFL BioE Talks SERIES "The Baculovirus Vector System: Old Dog, New Tricks"
WEEKLY EPFL BIOE TALKS SERIES (sandwiches provided)
Abstract:
The Baculovirus Expression Vector System (BEVS) is a time-tested tool for producing high-quality recombinant proteins for many applications. We contributed the MultiBac system, which has become instrumental for producing large multiprotein complexes for high-resolution structural and functional studies. More recently, we engineered baculovirus to expand its utility beyond recombinant protein expression. By leveraging its massive DNA cargo capacity, we developed CRISPR-based baculovirus vectors for efficient large DNA docking, multiplexed prime editing, and protein/DNA co-delivery in mammalian cells, minimizing off-target effects. We used our approach in patient-derived kidney cells to correct a hereditary defect causing SRNS, a debilitating kidney disease. New developments and applications will be discussed.
Bio:
Imre was trained as a biochemist at Leibniz University and Medical School in Hannover Germany; MIT in Cambridge USA and ETH Zurich in Switzerland. After group leader posts at ETH (2005) and EMBL (2007), he was appointed professor of biochemistry and chemistry at the University of Bristol, UK in 2014. In 2017, he became director of the Bristol Synthetic Biology Centre and co-director of the Bristol BioDesign Institute. Since 2019, he has been founding and managing director of the Max Planck-Bristol Centre for Minimal Biology. Imre researches essential proteins in human health and disease, creates synthetic vaccines, and pioneered synthetic viral nanosystems for DNA delivery, genome engineering and complex biologics production. The tools he developed are accelerating R&D in academia and industry worldwide. He holds international patents for protein and DNA technologies, has published prolifically in leading periodicals, co-founded four biotech companies, and received numerous awards and distinctions for his innovative research. In 2020, his team discovered a druggable pocket in the SARS-CoV-2 spike as well as a drug that has promise for treating COVID-19. In 2022, Imre was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the UK.
Zoom link (with one-time registration for the whole series) for attending remotely: https://go.epfl.ch/EPFLBioETalks
Instructions for 1st-year Ph.D. students planning to attend this talk, who are under EDBB’s mandatory seminar attendance rule:
IN CASE you cannot attend in-person in the room, please make sure to
Abstract:
The Baculovirus Expression Vector System (BEVS) is a time-tested tool for producing high-quality recombinant proteins for many applications. We contributed the MultiBac system, which has become instrumental for producing large multiprotein complexes for high-resolution structural and functional studies. More recently, we engineered baculovirus to expand its utility beyond recombinant protein expression. By leveraging its massive DNA cargo capacity, we developed CRISPR-based baculovirus vectors for efficient large DNA docking, multiplexed prime editing, and protein/DNA co-delivery in mammalian cells, minimizing off-target effects. We used our approach in patient-derived kidney cells to correct a hereditary defect causing SRNS, a debilitating kidney disease. New developments and applications will be discussed.
Bio:
Imre was trained as a biochemist at Leibniz University and Medical School in Hannover Germany; MIT in Cambridge USA and ETH Zurich in Switzerland. After group leader posts at ETH (2005) and EMBL (2007), he was appointed professor of biochemistry and chemistry at the University of Bristol, UK in 2014. In 2017, he became director of the Bristol Synthetic Biology Centre and co-director of the Bristol BioDesign Institute. Since 2019, he has been founding and managing director of the Max Planck-Bristol Centre for Minimal Biology. Imre researches essential proteins in human health and disease, creates synthetic vaccines, and pioneered synthetic viral nanosystems for DNA delivery, genome engineering and complex biologics production. The tools he developed are accelerating R&D in academia and industry worldwide. He holds international patents for protein and DNA technologies, has published prolifically in leading periodicals, co-founded four biotech companies, and received numerous awards and distinctions for his innovative research. In 2020, his team discovered a druggable pocket in the SARS-CoV-2 spike as well as a drug that has promise for treating COVID-19. In 2022, Imre was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the UK.
Zoom link (with one-time registration for the whole series) for attending remotely: https://go.epfl.ch/EPFLBioETalks
Instructions for 1st-year Ph.D. students planning to attend this talk, who are under EDBB’s mandatory seminar attendance rule:
IN CASE you cannot attend in-person in the room, please make sure to
- send F. Ghisays a note well ahead of time (ideally before seminar day), informing that you plan to attend the talk online, and, during seminar:
- be signed in on Zoom with a recognizable user name (not any alias making it difficult or impossible to identify you).
Practical information
- Informed public
- Registration required
Organizer
- Prof. Sahand Rahi, Institute of Physics & Institute of Bioengineering
Contact
- Institute of Bioengineering (IBI), Fiorella Ghisays <[email protected]>